GAME NOTES: Desperate to pick up any win they can at the moment, the Saint Peter's Peacocks host the Marist Red Foxes in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action this afternoon at the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City. The Peacocks are a mere 2-11 in conference play and have a total of just two victories since running off three straight wins back in late November. The most recent outing for Saint Peter's took place on Thursday night with the squad bowing to Loyola-Maryland on the road in an 81-69 final. As for the Red Foxes, currently 8-5 in MAAC action, they too lost their last game, falling to Siena on the road two nights ago, 97-88, in overtime. The loss was the third in a row for the program, marking the third time this season the Red Foxes have dropped three straight. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Peacocks still own a 17-9 edge over Marist, even though it was the Red Foxes that posted an 86-71 win at home in the first meeting back on January 11th at the McCann Center.

The Red Foxes had four players score in double figures on Friday night, shot an incredible 72.7 percent from the field in the second half and still ended up in the loss column versus Siena at home. Jay Gavin tossed in a team-high 19 points and pulled down six rebounds, followed by Spongy Benjamin with 17 points and eight boards. Ryan Stilphen recorded 16 points and also had eight rebounds, while Dejuan Goodwin responded with 14 points in the setback. Playing in a reserve role exclusively thus far, Gavin leads the team in scoring with his 13.6 ppg, thanks in large part to his 42.7 percent shooting effort behind the three-point line. Louie McCroskey was listed as the only other double-digit scorer for the group with 12.4 ppg, but an ankle injury has had him on the sidelines for a couple of weeks now, which means players like Benjamin (9.0 ppg) and Stilphen (9.0 ppg) need to give a little more each time out if the Red Foxes hope to survive.

Were it not for a 16-of-19 shooting effort at the free-throw line in the first half against Loyola earlier this week, the Peacocks would have had absolutely no chance of even playing a respectable game on the road in Baltimore. Nick Leon, who made all 10 of his charity stripe chances, finished with a team-best 15 points off the bench, followed by Darrell Lampley and his 13 point effort as the rest of the starters combined to shoot just 6-of-26 from the field. One of two players to have started every game so far this season, Todd Sowell finds himself atop the scoring list for Saint Peter's with his 12.3 ppg, which is actually tied with Wesley Jenkins at the moment. Sowell is also responsible for 10.3 rpg and 56 of their 101 blocked shots, but those lofty stats don't completely make up for his 55.8 percent effort at the free-throw line thus far. Lampley (10.6 ppg) and Leon (10.0 ppg) seem to have something to contribute, but with neither shooting even 40 percent from the field, they can be a liability as well.

The Red Foxes may have found the perfect prey on which to get back into the win column this weekend, but it won't be as easy as some might think.