Canisius College (5-8, 1-3 MAAC) vs. Fairfield (8-5, 4-0 MAAC)

Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003?7 p.m. Koessler Athletic Center?Buffalo, N.Y.
Internet/Radio: 105.1 FM Jay Moran (play-by-play) TV: None

Tonight For the first time since Dec. 19, Canisius will host a contest at the Koessler Athletic Center as MAAC leader Fairfield travels to Buffalo for a 7 p.m. meeting. The Golden Griffins completed a five-game road trip at Marist with an 83-78 loss. Canisius went 0-5 during the road swing and has lost its last six games overall. The Griffs are 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the MAAC. Fairfield enters the contest on a three-game win streak and owns a perfect 4-0 conference record. The Stags are 8-5 overall.

Quick Hits

Canisius shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the floor in the 83-78 loss at Marist... The Griffs are being outrebounded on the offensive glass by an average of 3.3 boards a game... Kevin Downey scored a career-high 20 points at Marist; the freshman went 7-for-9 from the field and 6-for-7 from three-point range... Yaku Moton-Spruill collected 13 points and 11 rebounds at Iona, his second career double-double... Hodari Mallory tallied his third career double-double at Florida International Jan. 2 with 14 points and 11 rebounds... During the six-game losing streak, Canisius is shooting 28.4 percent from three-point range (33-for-116)... The Griffs' 54 points and 35.7 shooting percentage from the floor at FIU was their least since netting 54 points and shooting 29.9 percent at Fairfield Feb. 18, 2002... Canisius has 16 or more turnovers in four of its last seven games... The Griffs have shot under 40 percent from the floor in two of their last five games... Notre Dame netted 95 points against Canisius Dec. 22; it's the most for a Griffin opponent since a 99-71 loss against the Irish in 2000... Five Griffs scored in double figures against Morgan State; it was the first time Canisius had five scorers in double figures since an 86-82 loss at Niagara Feb. 23, 2002.

Scouting the Stags

Deng Gai leads Fairfield in scoring and rebounding with 14.6 points and 6.6 boards a game... Oscar Garcia averages 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds a contest... 10 players are averaging more than 10 minutes a contest... Fairfield is shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from three-point range... The Stags are 3-3 on the road this season, including 2-0 in MAAC play.

Series History

The series, which began in the 1962-63 season is tied 26-26. The Stags have won the last five games, including two last season. Ajou Deng tallied 26 points and 19 rebounds to lead Fairfield to a 77-69 victory in Buffalo. Hodari Mallory posted 18 points to lead Canisius. Deng Gai posted 15 points and five blocks in the Stags' 72-54 win in Bridgeport. Canisius has won 13 of the last 20 games against Fairfield, but is 4-6 during Mike MacDonald's tenure.

First Four on the Road The Griffs played their first four conference games on the road. The last MAAC team to play its first four conference games on the road was Canisius in the 1995-96 season. The Griffs posted a 19-11 overall record, a 7-7 mark in the MAAC, won the MAAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament that season. The Griffs are 1-3 in the MAAC this season.

Doss Will Redshirt Canisius coach Mike MacDonald has announced that Dewitt Doss will redshirt the 2002-03 season. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. Doss, a junior guard, had a stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his left foot and had a screw put in to stabilize the fracture Nov. 2. Doss started 29-of-30 games last season and was fifth on the team in scoring with 8.7 points a game to go along with two assists a contest. MacDonald and Toby Foster are expected to announce whether the senior forward will redshirt the season in the next two weeks. Foster, a captain, fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot and had a screw put in to stabilize the fracture Oct. 26. Foster started 25-of-26 games last year and finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.5 points a game in addition to five rebounds a contest. He is the school's all-time leading three-point shooter with 189 treys and has 828 career points. Foster began practicing with the team this week.

Not a bad Outing Brian Dux scored a career-high 31 points at Iona Jan. 8. He was 10-of-15 from the floor and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Dux is the first Griff to score 30 or more points on the road since Darrell Barley posted 35 points at Saint Peter's Jan. 19, 1996. He is the first Griff to score 30 or more points in any game since Darren Fenn netted 32 at home vs. Iona Jan. 8, 2000.

Putting Names in the Record Books Brian Dux is the 22nd player in the 99-year history of Canisius basketball to score over 1,000 points. With 1,018 points (20th) and 440 assists (3rd), the senior is the only player in Canisius history to score over 1,000 points and dish out over 400 assists. Seniors Hodari Mallory and Toby Foster also have a chance to put their names among the elite in Canisius basketball history. Mallory has 837 career points (34th) and 387 rebounds (33rd), while Foster has 828 career points (34th) and 401 rebounds (32nd). Thirteen Canisius players tallied over 1,000 points and over 500 rebounds.

Non-Conference Schedule The Griffs finished the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 4-5 mark. Four of the five losses have come against Saint Joseph's (30-AP, 33-USA Today/ESPN), St. Bonaventure, Notre Dame (5-AP, 6-USA Today/ESPN) and Syracuse (28-AP, 28-USA Today/ESPN).

Head Coach Mike MacDonald 73-85; .462 (6th Year); Native of Ridgefield, Conn. Ranks sixth in school career wins, three away from fifth. He spent nine years as an assistant at Canisius under Marty Marbach and John Beilein. Mike's late father-in-law, Tom Heary, played for Canisius from 1957-60, while his brother-in-law, Michael Heary, played at Navy. Brother Tommy played at New Hampshire, brother Timmy played for St. Michael's and brother John played for Dowling.

D-D-D Defense Canisius has held its opponent under 40 percent shooting from the floor in seven games, including five of the last nine, and under 30 percent in two contests. The Griffs held Morgan State to 46 points, the least points allowed since a 78-46 win over Buffalo in 1999. Morgan State's shooting percentage of 27.4 percent was the lowest for a Canisius opponent in KAC history; the previous record of 29.4 percent was set against Elmira Dec. 4, 1990. Canisius set a school record by allowing Niagara to shoot 18.4 percent (7-for-38) from the field in the first half Nov. 30. The previous record was 18.8 percent (6-for-32), set in 1984 against Oswego and matched against the University at Buffalo Nov. 24, 2001. The Blue and Gold is allowing its opponents to shoot 38.7 percent from the field, ranking first in the MAAC.

Player of the Week Brian Dux was named MAAC Player of the Week (Dec. 8-15) after leading the Griffs to a 71-65 home win over Buffalo Dec. 14. The senior collected 18 points and a career-high 11 assists in addition to two rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Record Setting Performance Hodari Mallory tied a school record with seven three-pointers at Bucknell Dec. 3. Craig Wise netted seven against Fairfield Feb. 13, 1995, and Mickey Frazier had seven against Toledo Dec. 20, 1995.

Friendly Confines For the first time ever, Canisius will play all its home games on campus. The Griffs own an all-time mark of 129-39 (.772) in the Koessler Athletic Center. The KAC underwent a $1.3 million facelift over the past three years, which includes adding reserved seating and bringing the capacity to 2,176. Season ticket sales have increased 400 percent from last season. The 13-game schedule at the Koessler Center is the largest in school history.

Attendance Three crowds at the Koessler Athletic Center this season have ranked in the top 15 of all time. The attendance of 2,176 vs. St. Bonaventure (the first sellout since the remodeling) ranks second, the crowd of 1,856 against Morgan State is tied for eighth and the 1,808 fans against Buffalo ranks 13th. Canisius played in front of 17,305 fans at Syracuse; it's the largest attendance for a game involving Canisius since an 80-69 win over Texas Southern in front of 18,018 Nov. 22, 1997, at the Lobo Classic.

Mr. Helper With 10 assists against Niagara Nov. 30, Brian Dux moved into third on the all-time Canisius list. He is averaging a league-best 6.5 assists a game this season and owns a + 3.4 assist to turnover ratio, good for first in the MAAC. Dux had his first career double-double at Niagara Nov. 30, posting 24 points and 10 assists; he's the first Griff to collect 10 assists since Kevin Worley had 10 vs. Niagara Feb. 6, 1999. Dux tallied a career-high 11 assists against Buffalo Dec. 14.

The Iron Man Brian Dux is averaging 35.8 minutes a game this season. The senior has started 77 consecutive games, dating back to his freshman season. He has played in every game during his collegiate career, 104 contests. He played 40 minutes against Saint Joseph's and Siena (12/7).

Preseason Poll Canisius was picked to finish sixth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior guard Brian Dux was named second-team All-MAAC.

Long Road Trip Canisius spent 10 days in Europe last August and compiled a 4-0 record on the hardwood. Nine players made the trip, and five averaged double figure points. Hodari Mallory led the team with 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds a game, and Toby Foster posted 14 points and 8.5 rebounds a contest. Brian Dux tallied 12.5 points and 4.3 assists, while Richard Jones and Dewitt Doss each averaged 12 points a game.

Perk Knows Basketball Tom Perkovich is the first Griff since 1949 to play football and basketball all four years at Canisius. An offensive lineman on the football team, the senior played in every game during his career (42 contests) and started the last 31. Perkovich earned first-team All-MAAC and MAAC All-Academic football honors in 2002. He walked on to the basketball team as a freshman and has seen action in 20 contests during his career.

The Tradition Continues Sophomore Andrew Spitler is the fourth Spitler to don the Blue and Gold and the fifth to play collegiate basketball. His father (Kevin), uncle (Mark) and brother (Pat) all played at Canisius, and Pat transferred to Stony Brook. Another brother, Chris, played at Holy Cross. Andrew transferred from John Carroll and attended St. Joe's High School. Andrew's parents are infamous for traveling anywhere to see their sons play. Andrew has played in four games.
From Way Downtown... With his third three-pointer against Bucknell Jan. 5, 2002, Toby Foster set a new school record for career treys. The senior bested the old mark of 147, set by Kevin Thompson, who played for the Griffs from 1994-98. Foster now has 189 career three-pointers and a .417 career percentage. Hot on his heels is teammate Hodari Mallory with 119 three-pointers, including 28 this season. The senior is shooting 46.7 percent from three-point land.

No In-Season Tournament This is the first season Canisius has not played in a regular-season tournament since the 1992-93 campaign.
On the Tube Two more Golden Griffin games will be broadcast live on television. The Griffs' game against Saint Peter's in the Pepsi Arena in Albany Jan. 20, and their home contest against Manhattan Feb. 2, will be televised live on Empire Sports Network and MSG as part of the MAAC television package. Canisius is 1-2 in televised games.

On the Air All of Griffs' games will be aired on the radio at 105.1 FM The River and all on the Internet at www.GoGriffs.com.

Griffin History This is the 99th season of Canisius hoops, and the Griffs have an all-time record of 1081-972 (.527). The Golden Griffins' 93-69 victory over Iona on Feb. 8, 2001, was the 2000th men's basketball game in Canisius history.

Captains Brian Dux, Toby Foster and Hodari Mallory are the Canisius captains this season.

Canisius Signs Two Darnell Wilson and Charles Harris, a pair of players from Michigan, have signed National Letters of Intent to attend Canisius and play basketball, beginning in the 2003-04 season. A 6-foot-6, 190-pound forward, Wilson averaged 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks a game at John Glenn High School, where his team posted a 15-7 record and won its league tournament championship. He averaged 22 points an outing over the last 15 games of the season. Wilson was named first-team All-West by the Detroit Free Press and second-team All-West by the Detroit News. He was rated one of the top-five power forwards in Michigan by prepspotlight.com. Harris, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard averaged 21 points a game at Southfield Lathrop last season. He earned all-state honors in the Class A division and was named all-league. Harris will play his senior season at St. Martin DePorres High School under head coach Durand Shepherd.

Last Time Out Dennis Young tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Nick Eppehimer posted 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Marist (6-8, 2-3 MAAC) to an 83-78 victory over Canisius College (5-8, 1-3 MAAC) at the McCann Center Friday night. It was Marist head coach Dave Magarity's 300th career victory. The Griffs shot a season-high 50.9 percent from the floor, including 45.8 percent from three-point range, but were outrebounded 37-30 overall and 18-11 on the offensive glass. The Red Foxes shot 45.8 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point land and tallied 14 offensive rebounds in the second half. Brandon Ellerbee scored 13 points for Marist, and Eric Siegrist added 11 points and five assists off the bench. Kevin Downey scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, including 6-of-7 from behind the arc to lead Canisius. Hodari Mallory posted 19 points, and Brian Dux collected 15 points and nine assists. Yaku Moton-Spruill added 10 points and five rebounds. The Golden Griffins trailed 71-70 after the final media timeout of the game with 3:50 to play. Marist outscored Canisius 6-2 over the next 1:45 to take a 77-72 lead. Dux made a pair of free throws to trim the cushion to 77-74 with 1:07 to play. David Bennett missed a three-pointer, but Marist got the offensive rebound and Canisius was forced to foul with 25 seconds to go. The Red Foxes went 6-for-8 from the line to seal the victory.