GAME NOTES: As the team with the fewest overall wins in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Marist Red Foxes try to keep their season from coming to an end on Thursday night, as they clash with the Quinnipiac Bobcats in the first round of the 34th annual tournament at the Times Union Center.

The 11th-seeded Red Foxes had very little success this season, winning a grand total of only six times, with four of those coming during a run in late January/early February versus conference foes. However, after that four-game win streak Marist proceeded to drop five in a row before squeezing out a 69-67 triumph against Saint Peter's just days before the end of the regular season.

One of the latest additions to the MAAC, this is just the second tournament game for the Bobcats following a one-and-done showing a season ago. The sixth seed in the event, Quinnipiac lost four of the last five games on the schedule, the latest defeat being a 69-65 setback at Manhattan last Sunday.

The all-time series favors the Bobcats by a count of 3-1, with Quinnipiac completing the regular-season sweep in 2014-15 with a 66-54 victory at home on Jan. 11, and a more narrow 72-71 triumph at Marist just a week later.

Like the Bobcats, Marist is still waiting for that first championship in this tournament, but unlike the Bobcats who are in the event for just the second time, the Red Foxes have an all-time series of 10-17 to show for their efforts.

The survivor of this outing will be back in action on Saturday versus third- seed Manhattan in the quarterfinals.

Marist, which started off the campaign with just a single win in 19 opportunities, improved slightly but not enough for opponents in the MAAC to really take notice. During league play it was clear that yet again Chavaughn Lewis was the leading force with his 19.9 ppg, although his 28.6 percent shooting behind the 3-point line was still something that needed vast improvement. He was also first on the unit with 48 assists, 41 steals and 14 blocked shots in those league bouts, his 5.1 rpg placing him second. Khallid Hart was responsible for another 13.6 ppg, but his 3-point shooting was simply atrocious (.279), as was his aim from anywhere on the floor (.366) as he dragged the entire team down to just 39.8 percent.

During conference play Marist was beaten on the glass by 8.8 rpg, which against most other teams might not hurt as much heading into this tournament, but in the case of Quinnipiac it will loom very large. The Bobcats not only led the league in rebounding with a massive 45.2 rpg, they were first in all of Division I as of Monday with a rebounding margin of plus-12.0. Most of the credit there goes to Ousmane Drame, who averaged a double-double over the course of the campaign with 14.4 ppg and 10.8 rpg. But more than just a beast on the glass, Drame was and is an imposing figure in the paint who rejected 86 shots for a team that had 170 blocks, pushing them to 5.9 bpg to rank 10th nationally.

When the Bobcats add in Zaid Hearst (18.4 ppg) as a top-notch scorer and passer (74 assists), it is difficult to see the Red Foxes somehow putting together a game plan to take out an opponent that could easily double their efforts on the boards.