Canisius College junior Harold Washington scored a game-high 27 points and fellow junior Alshwan Hymes chipped in 17 more to help lead the host Golden Griffins to a 75-66 win over Binghamton Wednesday night in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improves Canisius to 3-9 on the year while the Bearcats fell to 0-11 with the loss.

Washington wrapped up the night by going 9-for-17 from the floor, 2-for-5 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line to go with four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action. Hymes went 7-fot-12 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers for the Griffs, who shot 48.2 percent from the field for the game and ended the night shooting 83.3 percent (15-for-18) from the charity stripe. Freshman forward Kevin Bleeker added eight points and five boards off the bench for the Griffs, who out rebounded Binghamton by a 32-28 count and turned eight Bearcat turnovers into 14 points.

Binghamton freshman Omar Richards scored a team-high 15 points in the loss for the Bearcats, who are one of six winless teams at the Division I level. Sophomore Robert Mansell tossed in 14 points in the losing effort for Binghamton, which shot 43.6 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from long range.

Canisius led the game by just three at 34-31 with 18:39 left on the clock before the Blue and Gold used a 10-0 run over the span of 2:10 to push their lead to 44-31 with 15:27 left in the contest. During that run, Washington and Hymes combined to score eight of the Griffs' 10 points, and the run was capped off by a lay-up from Hymes after he took a backdoor pass from Washington. Canisius' lead hovered around seven points for the better part of the second half, but Binghamton was able to five at 58-53 with 5:44 left on the clock after Richards sank a pair of free-throws. The Griffs answered Binghamton with the game's next four points that pushed the lead to 62-53 with 2:18 left to play.

"Before the game we put it on the guys' shoulders and to their credit, they found a way to win," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "It was good for us to gut-out a win. It wasn't pretty at all, but at the end of the night, this one goes in the left-hand column and that's a good feeling for us."

Canisius sophomore Reggie Groves and freshman Josiah Heath each scored seven points in the win for Canisius, which shot 56 percent from the field in the game's 20 minutes. Heath was credited with six rebounds for the Blue and Gold, as was sophomore forward Chris Manhertz, who started the night ranked sixth in the MAAC in rebounding average. As a team, Canisius was credited with 16 assists on 27 made baskets while being charged with a season-low eight turnovers.

The Griffs will get back into MAAC play on Sunday, Jan. 1, when the team takes on Fairfield at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. Tipoff between the Griffs and the Stags is set for 1 p.m.

Game Notes: This was the second all-time meeting between these two schools and the Griffs lead the series 2-0... Binghamton was the 65th different team to play a game in the Koessler Athletic Center... Canisius has now shot 80 percent or better from the free-throw line four times this year... The Griffs improved to 38-23 under Parrotta when scoring at least 70 points in a game... Canisius' 43 points scored in the second half are the second-most for any 20-minute period this season - the team scored 44 points in the second half in the win at Longwood Nov. 15... Washington has now scored in double figures in all 12 games for the Griffs and he's been good for 20-or more points in six of those contests... In his first five home games, Washington is averaging 19.8 points per game... Hymes' three 3-point field goals in the win gives him 35 this season and 126 for his career.