BALTIMORE, MD. - Canisius junior forward Tomas
Vazquez-Simmons scored a career-high 18 points, with 15 coming in the second
half, and fellow junior Greg Logins chipped in 15 points off the bench as the
Golden Griffins defeated Loyola 74-62 in Reitz Arena Friday night in MAAC
action. The win improves Canisius to 14-15 overall and 8-9 in league play,
while the Greyhounds dropped their fourth-straight overall to slip to 12-16
overall and 5-12 in conference action.
Vazquez-Simmons finished the night by going 6-for-12 from
the field, 3-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-for-6 from the line while pulling
down 10 rebounds for his sixth career double-double. Logins went 6-for-8 from
the floor and was credited with three boards despite missing most of the first
half with foul trouble. Elton Frazier and Frank Turner were good for 11 and 10
points respectively in the win, the Griffs' fourth-straight victory over
Loyola, dating back to last year.
Loyola's Jamal Barney scored a game-high 20 points to go
with eight rebounds in the loss for Loyola, while freshman Robert Olson added
13 points off the bench. For the game, the Greyhounds shot 42.4 percent from
the field, but connected on just 3-of-16 shots from behind the 3-point arc.
The Griffs jumped out to an early 12-0 lead when five
different player scored in the game's first 5:17 seconds. Loyola made a run
back at the Griffs and eventually tied the game at 19-19 after Barney grabbed
an offensive rebound and laid one off the glass with 3:27 left in the half.
Canisius took a 27-21 lead into the locker room at the break after the Blue and
Gold outscored Loyola 6-2 in the final three minutes of the frame, with four of
those six points coming from the charity stripe.
In the second half, Canisius pushed its lead to 12 at 38-26,
with Vazquez-Simmons posting six points in the first 3:09 of the half. Loyola
was able to make it a five-point game midway through the half when the score reached
42-37 with 13:11 left in the contest, but the Griffs scored the game's next six
points to push their cushion to 48-37 with 11:11 left on the clock, capped by a
driving lay-up by freshman Alshwan Hymes.
The Greyhounds made game a five-point affair one last time
with 8:08 left, but Vazquez-Simmons and Logins teamed to score the game's next
seven points, capped by a dunk by Vazquez-Simmons that put the Griffs up 61-50
with 4:58 remaining.
"This is a strong win for us for sure," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "I thought the guys really defended and carried the game plan to a 'T'. Loyola is a very talented team and we were able to neutralize a lot of their weapons, while getting contributions from a lot of guys on our team."
The Griffs shot 47.2 percent from the field and hit on 79.2
percent of their shots from the foul line, while holding a 35-33 advantage on
the glass. Canisius was charged with just eight turnovers, and only one of
those came in the game's final 20 minutes.
The Griffs will close out the regular season at Rider on
Sunday. Tip time in Lawrenceville, N.J., is set for 2 p.m. A Canisius victory
will allow the Blue and Gold to secure the No. 6 seed and a first-round bye in
next week's MAAC Tournament in Albany, N.Y.
Game Notes: Canisius now leads the all-time series with
Loyola 33-19... The Griffs are 11-5 this year when scoring 70-plus points in a
game... Canisius' eight MAAC wins are the most for the program since the 2004-05
season... Vazquez-Simmons' three blocks gives him 202 for his career, making him
the eighth player in MAAC history to register 200 career block... Turner's six
assists gives him 600 in his career, which makes him the eighth player in the
conference's history to dish out 600 career assists.
