# 1986–87 Marist Red Foxes men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Marist Red Foxes men's basketball team represented Marist College in the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Red Foxes, led by first-year head coach Dave Magarity, played their home games at the James J. McCann Recreation Center in Poughkeepsie, New York as members of the ECAC Metro Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 15–1 in ECACM play, finishing in first place and winning the ECAC regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the ECAC tournament, they advanced to the championship game, where they defeated second-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson 64–55 in overtime to win the school's second consecutive ECAC Metro men's basketball tournament title. The Red Foxes earned the automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament, receiving a 14 seed in the West region. They were defeated in the first round 68–93 by No. 12 Pittsburgh.

## Coaching change

In May 1986, several Marist players met with senior college administrators to discuss their complaints about the handling of the team by head coach Matthew Furjanic Jr. Several of them indicated they would not return for the 1986–87 if Furjanic, who had one year left on his contract, remained as head coach. Furjanic took over for Marist in the fall of 1984 after the forced resignation of 5-month term coach Mike Perry, who admitted committing violations of NCAA rules by offering extra benefits to a player to mask allegations and complaints of sexual advances towards the prospective recruit. Furjanic would step down a couple weeks later, citing personal reasons. On June 10, 1986, Marist hired former Saint Francis (PA) head coach Dave Magarity to replace him.

## NCAA penalties

While the NCAA was investigating the self reported violations of 1984, 2 days before the 1986–87 season was to begin, the NCAA declared Rik Smits, Miroslav Pecarski, and Rudy Bourgarel ineligible because the NCAA said that Mike Perry illegally recruited them for Marist. The NCAA Council's subcommittee on eligibility issued a decision that Pecarski and Bourgarel's violations were minor, and their suspensions would last seven games, although stats seem to indicate it was reduced to four. Smits, facing a complete season suspension, was eventually decided on nine games. Without Smits, Marist started the season 3–6, and losing the first game he returned to.

## Previous season

The Red Foxes finished the 1985–86 season 19–12, 11–5 in ECACM play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the ECAC tournament, they advanced to the championship game, where they defeated top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson 57–56 in overtime to win the school's first ECAC Metro men's basketball tournament title. The Red Foxes earned the automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament, receiving a 15 seed in the Southeast region. They were defeated in the first round 53–68 by No. 6 Georgia Tech.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 28, 1986* | | vs. Youngstown State Joe Lapchick Tournament | L 52–56 | 0–1 | Carnesecca Arena (6008) Queens, New York |
| November 29, 1986* | | vs. Southern University | L 82–89 | 0–2 | Carnesecca Arena (6008) Queens, New York |
| December 5, 1986* | | Maryland Eastern Shore Pepsi Marist Classic | W 85–54 | 1–2 | McCann Recreation Center (2195) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| December 6, 1986* | | Lafayette Pepsi Marist Classic | W 65–64 | 2–2 | McCann Recreation Center (2206) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| December 10, 1986* | | Fairfield | L 54–60 $^{OT}$ | 2–3 | McCann Recreation Center (2100) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| December 13, 1986* | | vs. Hofstra | W 72–71 | 3–3 | Madison Square Garden (11839) New York City |
| December 20, 1986* | | Saint Peter's | L 50–52 $^{OT}$ | 3–4 | McCann Recreation Center (1880) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| December 23, 1986* | | at Utica College | L 57–59 | 3–5 | Harold Thomas Clark Jr. Athletic Center (673) Utica, New York |
| December 30, 1986* | | Iona | L 53–62 $^{OT}$ | 3–6 | McCann Recreation Center (2430) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| January 3, 1987* | | at Bucknell | L 64–66 | 3–7 | Davis Gym (720) Lewisburg, Pennsylvania |
| January 5, 1987 | | Wagner | W 73–62 | 4–7 (1–0) | McCann Recreation Center (2809) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| January 7, 1987 | | at St. Francis (NY) | L 53–54 | 4–8 (1–1) | Pope Physical Education Center (1050) Brooklyn, New York |
| January 13, 1987 | | at Long Island University | W 92–70 | 5–8 (2–1) | Brooklyn Paramount Theater (700) Brooklyn, New York |
| January 17, 1987 | | at Loyola (MD) | W 59–55 | 6–8 (3–1) | Reitz Arena (2200) Baltimore, Maryland |
| January 20, 1987* | | at Cleveland State | L 49–52 | 6–9 | Woodling Gym (5099) Cleveland, Ohio |
| January 24, 1987 | | Robert Morris | W 63–52 | 7–9 (4–1) | McCann Recreation Center (2908) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| January 28, 1987 | | at Fairleigh Dickinson | W 75–73 | 8–9 (5–1) | FDU Gym (1143) Hackensack, New Jersey |
| February 2, 1987 | | Saint Francis (PA) | W 75–52 | 9–9 (6–1) | McCann Recreation Center (2898) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 4, 1987 | | Monmouth | W 77–60 | 10–9 (7–1) | McCann Recreation Center (2809) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 7, 1987 | | Long Island | W 74–55 | 11–9 (8–1) | McCann Recreation Center (3189) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 9, 1987 | | Loyola (MD) | W 89–71 | 12–9 (9–1) | McCann Recreation Center (2888) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 11, 1987 | | St. Francis (NY) | W 64–53 | 13–9 (10–1) | McCann Recreation Center (2819) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 14, 1987 | | at Monmouth | W 70–52 | 14–9 (11–1) | William T. Boylan Gymnasium (1235) West Long Branch, New Jersey |
| February 18, 1987 | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 91–88 | 15–9 (12–1) | McCann Recreation Center (3589) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| February 21, 1987 | | vs. Wagner | W 80–64 | 16–9 (13–1) | Meadowlands Arena (15287) East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| February 26, 1987 | | at Saint Francis (PA) | W 84–78 | 17–9 (14–1) | DeGol Arena (1300) Loretto, Pennsylvania |
| February 28, 1987 | | at Robert Morris | W 61–57 | 18–9 (15–1) | Charles L. Sewall Center (2051) Moon Township, Pennsylvania |
| ECAC Metro tournament ||||||
| March 6, 1987 | (1) | (4) Wagner Semifinals | W 59–57 | 19–9 | McCann Recreation Center (3809) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| March 7, 1987 | (1) | (2) Fairleigh Dickinson Championship | W 64–55 | 20–9 | McCann Recreation Center (3898) Poughkeepsie, New York |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 13, 1987* | (14 W) | vs. (3 W) No. 12 Pittsburgh 1st round | L 68–93 | 20–10 | McKale Center (12885) Tucson, Arizona |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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