Led by a game-high 14 points from seniors Robert Goldsberry and Tomas Vazquez-Simmons, the Canisius College Golden Griffins cruised to a 71-51 win over Eastern Michigan Saturday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improves Canisius to 2-1 on the year, while the visiting Eagles slipped to 1-2 with the loss.

The 14 points for Goldsberry marks a career high for the senior guard, while Vazquez-Simmons added nine rebounds and two blocks to his stat line in the win for the Griffs. Redshirt freshman Reggie Groves came off the bench and scored a career-high 11 points in the victory for Canisius, which saw nine of the 13 players in uniform score at least three points.

The Griffs took an early hold in the game and never looked back, leading by as many as 26 in the closing moments of the second half. The Blue and Gold didn't score their first points of the game until 2:52 into the contest when Vazquez-Simmons took a Goldsberry pass and slammed one home to make it 2-2. The 6-foot-7 senior capped a traditional three-point play by hitting the ensuing charity toss, and from there, the Griffs went on a 10-1 run over the next 3:23 to post a 13-3 advantage with 13:44 left before the halftime break.

"I thought our guys did a really good job of keeping them off balance at both ends of the floor," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "When we went out there last year, they really shot the ball well, and for a majority of the game today, we kept a high-hand on defense and didn't give them many open looks. I also thought we did a real nice job against their big guy [Brandon] Bowdry, and we didn't allow him to really get comfortable with the basketball."

Canisius went into the locker room at half leading 36-22 despite shooting 35.7 percent from the field and 28.6 from 3-point range. The Griffs were able to turn 12 Eastern Michigan turnovers into 18 points in the first 20 minutes of the game and also held a 12-2 advantage on points in the paint in the opening stanza. The second half saw much of the saw from Canisius, as the Griffs' margin never dipped below 12 points. The Blue and Gold closed out the victory with 29 points off 21 Eastern Michigan turnovers to go with a 44-34 advantage on the boards.

Senior Julius Coles added nine points and four rebounds for the Griffs, while fellow senior Elton Frazier chipped in seven points and nine rebounds. Senior Greg Logins was credited with nine boards as well, while sophomore Alshwan Hymes and freshman Ashton Khan recorded five and four points, respectively.

Bowdry led all Eastern Michigan players with 13 points and six rebounds in the loss for EMU, which shot 33.3 percent from the field, 25 percent from 3-point land and 52.2 percent from the free-throw line. The Griffs took care of business at the free-throw line as well on the day, hitting 23-of-28 charity tosses.

Canisius will return to action Tuesday, Nov. 23, when the team plays host to cross-town rival Buffalo in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. There will be a pregame reception hosted at Cole's, located at 1104 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo from 5-6 p.m., prior to Tuesday's game, and a free shuttle service will run from the Koessler parking lot, starting at 4:45 p.m. For more information, or to register for the event, interested fans should call the Canisius Alumni Office at 716-888-2703, or click this link.

Game Notes: This was the third all-time meeting between these two schools and the first time the Griffs and the Eagles played in the Koessler Athletic Center... Eastern Michigan now leads the all-time series 2-1... Canisius is 2-0 at home for the first time since the 1999-00 season... Dating back to last year, the Griffs have been better than 80 percent from the free-throw line in two of the team's last four outings... The 51-points allowed on Saturday is the fewest points scored by a Canisius opponent on the Koessler Athletic Center floor since Marist scored 49 points Feb. 27, 2009... The first points in each of Canisius' three games this year have come on slam dunks... Vazquez-Simmons now has 219 career blocks, which ranks him fourth in MAAC history.