Campus Watch

Loyola (Md) 89, Niagara 87 (2OT)

How Loyola Won: Give the Greyhounds a ton of credit for this one. They were down three after their leading scorer and emotional leader (Robert Olson, 23 points) fouled out with 7:27 remaining. How'd they rebound and persevere? By putting six players in double figures and producing textbook execution of a long inbounds play with 2.9 seconds left in the second OT. The results have shown the MAAC's top four of five teams are evenly matched. It should make for an interesting conference tournament.

Player of the Game: Loyola's Anthony Winbush (13 points, game-high 13 rebounds) made two clutch free throws near the end of regulation and was dead-on target with the long inbounds pass to Erik Etherly that set up the decisive Julius Brooks basket.

Continue reading "Niagara-Loyola Game Wrap" »

Niagara 93, Iona 90 (OT)

How Niagara Won: 'Twas magic is what it was. Down 15 midway through the second half and down seven with 45 seconds left in regulation, the Purple Eagles tied it on a Juan'ya Green three and won it in OT on another trey by Green. Stunning. Iona appeared to have secured the victory that would tie it for first place in the conference but the Purple Eagles, as is so often the case and particularly on their home floor, just wouldn't go away. They came up with key steals down the stretch. They went on a rampage on the offensive glass. And when Iona failed to make the free throws that would have locked things up Niagara barged through the door and shouted, "Here we are."

Players of the Game: Green and Antoine Mason combined to rip the Gaels' hearts out. Time and again in the final 10 minutes they drove into the paint and either scored or went to the line. Mason had a career-high 30 points, 17 of them after intermission. Grey scored 26 to go with eight assists against just one turnover. They outplayed Iona's heralded backcourt combination of Momo Jones (23 points) and Sean Armand (11).

Continue reading "Niagara-Iona Game Wrap" »

Canisius guard Isaac Sosa has been named to the Academic All-District 1 team, the only player in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference so honored. Sosa has a 3.48 gpa in finance and is the first Griff on the District team since Darren Fenn in 2000-01.

UB has put two players on the Academic All-Mid-American Conference team. They are receiver Alex Neutz, who has a 3.59 in management, and defensive end Colby Way, a 3.49 in computer engineering. Three Bulls -- receiver Rudy Johnson, tight end Matt Weiser and QB Alex Zordich, achieved honorable mention status.

-- Bob DiCesare

Niagara 66, Canisius 65

How Niagara Won: Marvin Jordan's three from the left corner with 2.9 seconds remaining stood as the winning points when Billy Baron's last-instant jumper was deemed to have come after time expired. Jordan's shot was set up by point guard Juan'ya Green, who raced up court, drove the lane and dished off as defenders converged.

Player of the Game: Jordan struck for a season-high 23 points on a night when leading scorers Antoine Mason and Green were limited by foul trouble. He played 34 minutes and went 9 of 18 from the floor with four rebounds and three steals.

Continue reading "Canisius-Niagara Game Wrap" »

Sunday afternoon's first seasonal meeting between Canisius and Niagara is a sellout, the Griffs just announced. All 2,000-plus tickets have been purchased. The day begins with the Canisius-Niagara women's game at 1 p.m. followed by the men at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3.

-- Bob DiCesare

Game analysis: Billy Baron and Harold Washington combined for 14 points but it didn't matter because defense was the fuel that drove Canisius to a 76-44 victory over struggling Siena.

How Canisius won: Canisius likes to run and gun with little regard for defense so the numbers against the Saints were staggering. They held Siena to 32.7 percent shooting, forced 20 turnovers and had 13 steals and six blocks. They also pressured Siena point guard Evan Hymes into nine turnovers. The Saints 44 points scored tied a Koessler Center record for fewest points by an opponent.

Turning Point: Seriously, Siena was never in this game. After Canisius took a 7-4 lead, it outscored the Saints 35-15 by halftime.

Player of the Game: At 6-6 Chris Manhertz may be undersized but it's undervalued: 12 points, 11 boards, two blocks.

Key stat: Canisius committed just four turnovers, one in the first half.

Welcome back: Alshwan Hymes returned to the lineup after serving a suspension for a violation of team rules scored 11 points on 5 of 8 from the floor in 24 minutes. He's apparently back in the good graces of coach Jim Baron.

"He gives us high energy off the bench and that's important," Baron said. "As we move forward, everyone needs to know their role. Whenever you take over a program, it's always balancing it out and it's a team effort. Everybody wins when we win. When you play in a league like this - and I'm coming from the Atlantic 10 - you need a good amount of players. You need a bench. And the way we play uptempo, pushing the ball and attacking, we need guys off the bench to give us quality minutes and that was important today."

What It Means: Canisius moves up to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in MAAC play.

In the House: 2,001 on Hall of Fame Day.

He said it: "It was one of our best defensive efforts with guys understanding what we needed to do with post position help defense and keeping guys in front. We have to carry it over because we have two games this week that are going to be very, very challenging, one on the road at Rider and coming back with Niagara so we have to take them one game at a time." - Canisius coach Jim Baron

Up next: The Golden Griffins hit the road against Rider for a 7 p.m. game Friday.

---Rodney McKissic

Canisius 64, Manhattan 60

Game Analysis: The Griffs struggled with Manhattan's extended defense in the early going but made 16 of their final 30 field goal attempts, built a 13-point advantage and held on. Give a lot of credit to Jaspers coach Steve Masiello. He's had to retool the offense after losing top scorer George Beamon to a severe ankle sprain four games into the season. Freshman gunner Shane Richards stepped up with 18 points (six treys) and junior guard Michael Alvarado (18 points) challenged the Griffs inside.

Player of the Game: When Isaac Sosa's on, good things come in threes. He went 8 of 13 from the field, including 5 of 10 from behind the arc, in scoring a season-high 25 points (one off his career high). He also had four rebounds, two assists and just one of Canisius's 16 turnovers.

Best Supporting Role: Center Jordan Heath chipped in with nine points, eight boards, two steals and a block and helped loosen up the Manhattan defense in the first half.

Stat Check: Put it's two drought together and Manhattan didn't score a field goal for 18 of the 40 minutes.

Stat Check II: The Jaspers won the battle of the benches, 28-3.

Sighting: Canisius guard Alshwan Hymes was back in uniform after his indefinite suspension but did not play for the fourth straight game.

Deceptive: At 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, Shane Richards looks non-threatening. But the freshman from New York is the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week and dumped six treys on the Griffs. He was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc.

What It Means: The Griffs are back above .500 in the MAAC (4-3) while Manhattan dropped to 3-4.

In the House: Coach Jim Baron said he feels like a Fuller Brush salesman as he tries to generate attendance. The skeptics aren't giving in easily. There were only 1,370 on hand and student representation was lean.

They Said It

Billy Baron on his father's 400th win: "I feel very, very fortunate to be in this spot, to grow up in a basketball family. It's meant a lot to me. I've understood what it is to work hard from him. I've understood what that work ethic is through my mother. And my brother has paved the way for me and guided me along the way along with my parents. I'm very blessed and I know my brother would say the same."

Jim Baron: "Manhattan's a scrappy team. That's the league we're in. Everybody's very, very scrappy, coming back at you, just like Siena down in Albany playing in front of 5,000 fans."

Manhattan coach Steve Masiello on his players: "There's no quit in them. They fight. They understand that our best days are ahead of us. We're going to return almost 90 percent of this team. Some very good players sitting out. Some very good players coming in. They know that."

Next Up: The Griffs get their rematch with Siena at 2 Saturday afternoon in the KAC. Manhattan heads up the road to Niagara.

-- Bob DiCesare