Canisius College sophomore Gaby Belardo banked in a floater in the lane with 8.8 seconds left on the clock and senior Tomas Vazquez-Simmons blocked Siena forward Ryan Rossiter's fall-away jumper with 2.2 seconds on the clock to help lift the Golden Griffins to a 62-61 win over the visiting Saints Friday night in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improved Canisius to 7-7 overall and 1-3 in the league, and it also snapped the program's 10-game losing streak to the MAAC's three-time defending champions.

Canisius sophomore Alshwan Hymes led all Canisius scorers with 19 points after he went 6-for-13 from the field, 6-for-11 from 3-point range and 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, while senior guard Julius Coles added 18 points, five rebounds and two steals in the win. Belardo finished the night with eight points and four assists and Vazquez-Simmons was credited with six rebounds, four assists and four blocks to the final stat sheet.

Rossiter led the way for Siena (5-9, 2-2 MAAC) with his 43rd career double-double as he posted 19 points and 14 rebounds. OD Anosike scored 12 points and pulled down 11 boards for the Saints, while Owen Wignot chipped in 11 points to the losing effort. For the night, Siena shot 36.9 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from 3-point land and 58.3 percent from the charity stripe.

Rossiter worked to lay one off the glass with 4:42 left in the game to put the Saints up 55-50, but Hymes nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing on Canisius' next trip down the floor to make the score 55-53 with 3:52 left to play. After Anosike grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back in to make the score 57-53, Canisius answered again with a three-ball, this time from Coles, who spotted up from the top at the top of the key and hit nothing by net off a pass from Belardo. Canisius took its first lead since the game's first basket moments later when Belardo took a long pass from Coles and beat the Siena defense down the floor to make the game 58-57 with 3:12 on the clock. A Coles jumper pushed the Griffs' margin to three at 60-57 at the 2:14 mark, but four-straight points from Rossiter over a span of 51 seconds gave Siena a 61-60 lead with less than 20 seconds to play.

On Canisius' ensuing possession, Belardo was able to breakdown the defense and got to the hoop, where he hit his off-balance floater with 8.8 seconds left to play. Siena got the ball over halfcourt and took a timeout to set up its final play, but Vazquez-Simmons was able to get a piece of Rossiter's fall-away shot in the paint and the senior from Rochester, N.Y., was able to grab the ball as the horn sounded to seal the win for the Blue and Gold, the program's first over Siena since Dec. 11, 2005.

"I have the upmost respect for that program and their head coach," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "This was a tough, hard-fought game and we were able to make more plays down the stretch to come away with the victory. This is a feel-good win for us, but we know there's a lot more work to do and this is obviously a step in the right direction."

After a back-and-forth affair in the game's first five minutes, Siena used an 8-0 run over a span of 3:11 to take a 22-12 lead with 10:51 left before the break. Canisius answered with a run of its own and cut the score to 22-20 with eight-straight points, highlighted by five points from Coles. Siena's lead ballooned to six points at 27-21 with 6:16 left before halftime, but back-to-back threes from Hymes and Coles knotted the game at 27-27 with 5:26 left in the stanza.

The Griffs trailed 33-32 at intermission despite shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point land in the game's first 20 minutes. For the night, the Blue and Gold shot 45.1 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point land. Siena held a 44-30 advantage on the glass, with 20 of those boards coming at the offensive end of the floor, and Siena posted 21 second-chance points, while Canisius turned 14 Siena turnovers into 18 points.

Canisius will close out its weekend homestand Sunday at 2 p.m., when the team hosts Rider in the Koessler Athletic Center.

Game Notes: This was the 85th all-time meeting between these two schools, with Siena holding a 48-37 lead in the series... Canisius improved to 9-4 in its last 13 home games, dating back to last season... The Griffs shot a season-low eight free throws in the win... The team hit a total of 12 3-pointers against Siena, giving Canisius five-or more 3-pointers in 33 of the team's last 34 games, dating back to last year... Greg Logins added eight points and eight rebounds in the win for Canisius, and he now has 659 career rebounds... Vazquez-Simmons' four blocks gives him 244 for his career, which is four shy of tying former La Salle forward Lionel Simmons for second all-time in MAAC history... Prior to the start of the game, the basketball program honored Logins and Coles for reaching the 1,000-point scoring mark for their careers.