Marist 66, Niagara 62

3/8/2008 11:33 PM

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -Ben Farmer scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Marist upset defending champion Niagara 66-62 in the quarterfinal round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament Saturday night.

After the teams traded the lead throughout the second half, the sixth-seeded Red Foxes (18-13) took the lead for good with 1:11 to play on four straight points from Ryan Stilphen.

David Devezin added 14 points, and Jay Gavin had 11 for Marist, which advances to face second-seeded Rider in Sunday?s semifinal round.

Buoyed by an intentional foul call, the Red Foxes hit seven foul shots in the final 30.6 seconds to hold off Niagara (19-10), which pulled to within 65-62 with 4.1 seconds left.

Charron Fisher led Niagara with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Tyrone Lewis added 21 points.

The third-seeded Purple Eagles led 58-55 with 2:23 to go after a 3-pointer from Lewis. Fisher missed a free throw and a chance to tie it as Marist?s Spongy Benjamin grabbed one of his 11 rebounds.