Canisius senior Frank Turner scored a team-high 20 points, while juniors Julius Coles and Greg Logins added 18 and 12 points to the winning effort as the Golden Griffins defeated Loyola 70-65 Friday night in the MAAC opener for both teams. The win improves Canisius to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC for the first time since the 2002-03 season, while the Greyhounds slipped to 4-3 on the year and 0-1 in league play.

Turner, who scored in double figures for the 25th-straight game, ended the night by going 5-for-12 from the field, 1-for-2 from 3-point range and 9-for-10 from the foul line to lead the Blue and Gold. Coles was 6-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line, while Logins posted his 12 points to go along with nine rebounds. Fellow junior Tomas Vazquez-Simmons came off the bench and added nine points and nine rebounds for Canisius, which shot 44.2 percent from the field and 70.4 percent from the charity stripe in the victory.

For Loyola, senior guard Brett Harvey scored a game-high 28 points to allow him to reach the 1,000-point milestone for his career. The Greyhounds shot 38.9 percent from the floor in the loss and ended the night with 17 turnovers.

Canisius held a 46-39 lead with 10:50 left to play, but Loyola fought back and knotted the game at 46-46 with a 7-0 run over a span of 2:52, capped by a 3-pointer by Jamal Barney from the top of the key. From there, the Griffs would score the game's next 13 points, with Turner and Coles accounting for 11 of Canisius' points during the run. The Greyhounds ended a 4:15 scoreless stretch when Harvey drove through the lane and scored one off the glass, but Turner stretched the Griffs' hold back to 13 at 61-48 with a lay-up of his own on the Griffs' next possession.

"I thought we did a really good job on defense tonight," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "They're a dangerous team because they have some many offensive weapons, but once we got into a flow where we were defending and rebounding the basketball, it allowed us to get out and run and we got into a rhythm offensively."

Harvey kept Loyola in the game by scoring five-straight points, and Barney nailed two free throws with 2:45 left to play to cut the Griffs' margin to 61-55, but Turner knocked down a pair of charity tosses moments later to put Canisius up eight at 63-55 with 1:24 left on the clock. Down the stretch, Harvey got his squad within four at 67-63 with a 3-pointer with 33 ticks left, but Canisius was able to hit its free-throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the victory.

Brian Rudolph and Barney added 11 and 10 points each in the loss for Loyola, which saw its four-game winning streak in the Koessler Athletic Center come to an end. The Griffs ended the night with a 30-26 advantage in points in the paint and turned Loyola's 17 turnovers into 17 points.

The Griffs will return to action Sunday, Dec. 6, when the team plays Manhattan in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. All fans will receive free coffee or hot chocolate when they enter the Koessler Athletic Center.

Game Notes: Canisius has now won three straight over Loyola and leads the all-time series 32-19... The 9 p.m., tipoff was the latest in Koessler Athletic Center history... The game was the program's 250th in the building and the Griffs are off to their first 2-0 start at home since the 1999-00 campaign... Turner's 20 points allowed him to pass former Griff Brian Smith for 10th all-time in career scoring and it also marks the 32nd time in his career that he's led the team in scoring... Coles, who entered the game as the MAAC's leading scorer, has now scored 10-plus points in 26 of the Griffs' last 37 contests, dating back to last season... Canisius is now 13-6 since the start of the 2008-09 season when holding the opposition under 40 percent from the field.