Men?s Basketball Set to Meet Bowling Green in ESPNU BracketBuster

Men's Basketball 3/1/2009 5:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Siena Holds Off Men's Basketball

Siena senior Kenny Habrouck scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and the visiting Saints overcame a 40-35 halftime deficit to defeat Canisius 78-74 Sunday afternoon on Fan Appreciation Day in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improves Siena to 23-7 overall and 16-2 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins closed out the regular season with a 10-19 overall record and a 4-14 mark in league action.

The Griffs will enter next weekend's Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championships as the ninth seed, and the team will take on Loyola at 7:30 p.m., March 6, in the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. Canisius and Loyola split the regular season series, with each team winning on the road.

For Canisius, sophomore Julius Coles scored a game-high 21 points and added six assists while teammate Frank Turner recorded 16 points, the 27th time this season he's posted double-figures in the scoring column. Sophomore Robert Goldsberry added a career-high nine points and dished out a career best nine assists in the loss as the Griffs closed out the day shooting 52.4 percent from the field.

The Blue and Gold took a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime after the team shot 58.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range in the game's first 20 minutes. In the second half, the Saints used an 8-2 run to take a 43-42 lead with 10:23 left to play in the game. From there, the game remained tight until Habrouck scored five-straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from the left corner, to put Siena up eight at 68-60 with 7:07 left on the clock.

Canisius made one last run at Siena to cut the Saints' cushion to one at 70-69 with 4:21 left in the game thanks to a 9-2 run over 2:06. Goldsberry got the run started with a 3-pointer from the right side and Greg Logins laid one in from the paint to end the spurt, but the Saints would end up scoring the game's next four points on buckets by Ronald Moore and Ryan Rossiter to pull seal the win.

“This was a great college basketball game and I think they are a really good team,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. “We had our chances. I think the start of the second half was our undoing, but to our credit we battled back and made it a nip-and-tuck game. I thought we were physical, we got the ball inside and we had tempo today. We feel pretty confident about ourselves heading into next weekend.”

Four Siena players registered double figures in the win, led by Habrouck's 20-point effort. Alex Franklin added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Moore and Edwin Ubiles chipped in 16 and 11 points, respectively. The Saints shot 50 percent from the field in the game, while Canisius held a 36-31 advantage on the glass.

Game Notes: Sunday's game was the 80th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Siena holding a 44-36 advantage in the series... The Griffs scored a season-high 18 points off the bench, with Chris Gadley and Rishawn Johnson adding eight points apiece to the losing effort... In the team's last four game, Goldsberry has 22 assists against just three turnovers... Canisius dropped its final home game for just the third time in the last 10 years.

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Players Mentioned

#15 Julius Coles: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#54 Chris Gadley: C; 6' 9"; Junior

#3 Robert Goldsberry: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#25 Rishawn Johnson: F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#00 Greg Logins: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#2 Frank Turner: G; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#15 Julius Coles
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

#54 Chris Gadley
: 6' 9"; Junior
: C

#3 Robert Goldsberry
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G

#25 Rishawn Johnson
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: F

#00 Greg Logins
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#2 Frank Turner
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G