GAME NOTES: Rewarded for their upset win in the first round of the 34th annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday, the Marist Red Foxes now have the pleasure of facing the Manhattan Jaspers in the quarterfinals on Saturday night at the Times Union Center.

Marist, the 11th and final seed in this year's tournament, entered play against sixth-seeded Quinnipiac two days ago with a grand total of just six wins to its credit, but that all changed with a stunning 80-74 triumph over the Bobcats. Making the win all the more remarkable is the fact that even a 27-point, 23-rebound performance by Quinnipiac's Ousmane Drame wasn't enough to take down the Red Foxes.

Marist now has a record of 11-17 in this event all-time, but has never brought home the trophy, unlike Manhattan which is the defending champion.

The third-seeded Jaspers, who won the title last season with a 71-68 triumph over Iona, the fourth crown in the event for the program, closed out the regular season with four wins in the last five outings, the lone loss coming against the aforementioned Gaels (79-75) near the end of last month.

Manhattan leads the all-time series with the Red Foxes by a 28-15 margin, posting a 67-54 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 23 in Poughkeepsie.

The winner of this meeting will be off to the semifinals on Sunday versus the survivor of the Saint Peters/Rider contest for the right to challenge for the championship on Monday night.

The Red Foxes fell behind by four points right out of the chute against Quinnipiac, but after that Marist erupted with not only 61.5 percent shooting from the floor in the first half but also a staggering 9-of-12 behind the 3- point line, en route to the close call. Chavaughn Lewis, who became the school's all-time leading scorer in the contest, finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots, as well as five of his team's 15 turnovers.

Except for Eric Truog who tallied just four points before fouling out, every Marist starter ended up in double figures as Khallid Hart dropped in 18 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the floor, which included 3-of-3 beyond the arc, followed by Phillip Lawrence and T.J. Curry with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Manhattan, which has played in the title tilt in each of the last two seasons and has a record of 23-29 in the tourney to date, will follow Emmy Andujar into battle on Saturday. Andujar, who is the only player in school history to record 1,200 points, 700 rebounds, 350 assists and 160 steal, is a 50.9 percent shooter from the floor who not only leads the team in scoring with 16.5 ppg, but he is also first with 7.5 rpg and 97 assists, making him one of a very rare breed these days. Add in Ashton Pankey and Shane Richards, who are averaging 13.3 and 12.9 ppg, respectively, and the Jaspers have a formidable scoring trio that the Red Foxes will have a tough time keeping up with.

Obviously the Red Foxes have to be thrilled with their unexpected win in the first round, but Manhattan has had plenty of time to rest and prepare for an opponent that it should tower over this time around.