JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Saint Peter's senior guard Nick Leon scored a game-high 20 points, with eight of those coming from the free-throw line in the game's final minute, as the host Peacocks defeated Canisius College 63-55 Monday night in the Yanitelli Center. The win improves Saint Peter's to 8-6 overall and 3-0 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 6-7 overall and 0-3 in conference action.

Sophomore Alshwan Hymes scored a team-high 16 points for the Blue and Gold in the losing effort, while sophomore Gaby Belardo added 14 points, four steals and three assists. Senior Greg Logins chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds for Canisius. 

Canisius, which trailed by as many as 13 points midway through the second half, cut Saint Peter's cushion to five at 55-50 with 1:36 left to play in regulation time on a driving lay-in by senior Julius Coles. On the Peacocks' ensuing possession, the Griffs were forced to foul in an attempt to extend the game, and Canisius sent Leon to the line for a 1-and-1 chance.  Leon missed the front end of the 1-and-1 opportunity, but teammate Ryan Bacon was able to pull the loose ball away from a crowd and pass it back to Leon, who would not miss another free throw for the rest of the night.

Leon hit four free throws in a span of 18 seconds and Canisius missed a long 3-point field goal at its end of the floor to drive the Peacock cushion back to nine at 59-50 with 39 ticks left on the clock. Saint Peter's took a three-point hold into the locker room at the break, but got away from the Griffs by outscoring the Blue and Gold 14-5 in the first 4:04 of the second stanza, with Leon and Bacon teaming to score 12 of Saint Peter's 14 points during the spurt.

The Peacocks, which entered the game ranked 10th in the MAAC in free-throw shooting percentage, hit 16-of-23 tosses from the stripe (69.6 percent) while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range. Canisius shot 35.1 percent from the field, but hit on just 26.9 percent of its tries from long range and shot a season-low 44.4 percent from the free-throw line.

"I thought we ran good offense and got ourselves some good looks, we just didn't get a lot of them to fall," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "We battled our way back into it and for the most part, we played pretty good defense, but there were chances where we needed that rebound or could have really used a key shot and we just didn't get that tonight."

The Griffs will return to action Friday, Jan. 7, when the team plays host to defending MAAC champion Siena in the Koessler Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be shown live throughout New York State on Time Warner SportsNet.