Saint Peter's Defeats Men's Basketball 69-64

Todd Sowell scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Saint Peter's College (3-4, 1-0 MAAC) opened conference play with a 69-64 men's basketball victory at Canisius College (0-5, 0-1 MAAC) Friday night in the Koessler Athletic Center.

Trailing 65-62, Canisius' Darnell Wilson got a steal and passed the ball up court to Chuck Harris with 42 seconds left. Harris triple from the wing hit the back iron and went out of bounds to the Peacocks. Canisius was forced to foul, and Kaimondre Owes hit 1-of-2 from the line.

The Griffs' Corey Herring got fouled going to the basket and nailed two free throws to make the margin 66-64 with 34 seconds left. Canisius fouled Keydren Clark, and the senior made both free throws and got a steal on the Griffs' next possession to preserve the win.
Raul Orta posted 17 points for the Peacocks, and Owes finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Clark, the leading scorer in the nation the last two seasons, tallied 13 points and six assists.

Darnell Wilson (right) scored a career-high 22 points and matched a career-high with 12 rebounds for Canisius. It was the junior's first double-double this season and the fifth of his career. Kevin Downey posted 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Herring finished with 10 points, four boards and four assists. Ola Matti netted a career-high 11 points to go along with five rebounds.

The Peacocks grabbed 24 offensive rebounds for 23 second-chance points, and scored 19 points off 11 Canisius turnovers.

“I thought we followed our game plan pretty well,” said Canisius coach Mike MacDonald. “Keydren Clark is going to get his. He's going to score some points and make some plays. We did a good job on Clark, but we didn't do a good enough job on the other guys.”

The score was tied 25-25 at halftime, and Saint Peter's pushed out to a 40-33 lead on a Sowell conventional three-point play with 10:59 remaining. A Downey triple made the score 49-46, but the Peacocks used an 11-5 run to push the lead to 60-51 with 2:27 left to play.
Trailing 64-55 a minute later, Wilson sparked the frantic Golden Griffin comeback with a layup off a feed from Herring. A Harris 3-pointer and a pair of Downey free throws made the margin 65-62 with 53 seconds left.

“There's a lot of little areas that are getting us,” said MacDonald. “We took care of the ball tonight and made free throws, but got hurt on the boards. We're playing not to lose instead of to win, and that's disappointing.”

The Griffs return to action Sunday as they host Siena at 6 p.m. in the Koessler Center.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Kevin Downey: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#14 Chuck Harris: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#2 Corey Herring: F/G; 6' 5"; Junior

#5 Ola Matti: F; 6' 7"; Senior

#1 Darnell Wilson: F; 6' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Kevin Downey
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#14 Chuck Harris
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#2 Corey Herring
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F/G

#5 Ola Matti
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

#1 Darnell Wilson
: 6' 6"; Junior
: F