The New York Knicks acquired the draft rights to former Marist men’s basketball star Jared Jordan, the 45th overall selection in this year’s NBA Draft, from the Los Angeles Clippers for cash considerations on Sept. 30.
In his Marist career, Jordan led the nation in assists in both his junior and senior seasons, becoming the first Division I player to accomplish the feat since Southern University’s Avery Johnson.
The Knicks’ Media Day was scheduled for Oct. 1 at Madison Square Garden Training Center in Tarrytown, after which the team will hold its training camp in Charleston, S.C. The team opens its preseason slate on Monday, Oct. 8 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Columbia, S.C. The team has four preseason games at Madison Square Garden – Thursday, Oct. 11 vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (7:30 p.m.), Monday, Oct. 22 vs. Boston (7:30 p.m.), Wednesday, Oct. 24 vs. Philadelphia (7:30 p.m.) and Friday, Oct. 26 vs. New Jersey (7:30 p.m.).
In July, Jordan played for the Clippers’ Summer League team in Las Vegas. Starting all five of the team’s games, he averaged 4.2 points and 4.8 assists per contest.
Jordan concluded his Marist career as the program’s all-time leader in assists, and was the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Last season, he averaged 17.2 points and 8.7 assists per game.
Men’s tennis wins two at UConn
Two Marist men’s tennis players walked away with singles championships on Sept. 30 at the UConn Fall Tennis tournament. The two titles put the finishing touches on a very successful weekend for the Red Foxes.
In the Flight One finals, Loic Sessagesimi (La Tour-de-Peliz, Switzerland) beat Ivan Rummell of Stony Brook 6-4, 6-3 to take the championship.
The flight four final was a great battle between Greg Marks (Newburgh) of Marist and Stony Brook’s Artem Baradach. Baradach persevered 6-3, 7-6 (3) in a match that lasted for more than two hours.
Nicolas Pisecky (Lausanne, Switzerland) was the winner of Flight Eight. He breezed by Juan Carlos Cotto 6-3, 6-0.
The two final victories gave Marist 16 for the tournament.
Head coach Tim Smith said, “Any time you can win 16 matches in a 10-team tournament, you have to be extremely happy.”
He added, “It means even more considering the type of teams that were at this tournament.”
Throughout the weekend, Marist faced teams from UConn, Stony Brook, Bucknell, Rhode Island, Fairfield, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, Seton Hall and Monmouth.
Marist doubles teams didn’t capture any titles but occupied three of eight semifinal spots. There were five Red Foxes in flight finals matches.
Marist will return to action Oct. 7, when they host Villanova at 12:30 p.m. for their third head-to-head dual match of the season.
Marist football downed by Bucknell
The Marist football team fell suffered a 38-7 loss to Bucknell on Sept. 29, as the Red Foxes fell to 0-5 on the season.
Marist’s lone touchdown came on a 17-yard first-quarter touchdown strike from senior quarterback Stephen McGrath (Manasquan, N.J.) to senior wide receiver Daniel Dulac (Newington, Conn.). Freshman defensive back Rory Foley (West Roxbury, Mass.) led the defense with eight solo tackles.
Bucknell outgained Marist 414-274, with the Bison rolling up 362 yards on the ground. Terrance Wilson led Bucknell with 108 rushing yards and two scores, while Justin Pulgrano ran for 101 yards. Marcello Trigg ran for 32 yards and three touchdowns. Todd Manjuck paced the Bucknell defense with 14 tackles and two interceptions.
Senior running back Adam Hansen (Monroe Township, N.J.) led Marist with 49 rushing yards, and also tied for the team lead with four receptions. Nine different Red Foxes caught passes in the game, with sophomore wide receiver James LaMacchia (Bronx) tying Hansen with four catches.
After Bucknell scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead, Marist responded with McGrath’s touchdown pass to Dulac, which capped a seven-play, 62-yard drive.
However, Bucknell answered on its next drive with a 43-yard touchdown run from Wilson. Will Carney’s 26-yard field goal with 11:38 left in the second quarter gave Bucknell a 24-7 lead. Touchdown runs by Trigg and Wilson in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, enabled Bucknell to take a 38-7 advantage.
With its five-game road trip to open the season now complete, the Red Foxes will return home to play their first game at the newly-renovated Leonidoff Field on Oct. 6. Marist will host Duquesne in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference contest at 1 p.m. on Homecoming Day, with special stadium dedication ceremonies set to take place before the contest. Log on to www.GoRedFoxes.com for further information on the ceremonies.