St. Bonaventure senior Marcus Posley scored a game-high 35 points and fellow senior Dion Wright added 13 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Bonnies defeated long-time rival Canisius 77-73 Tuesday night in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improved St. Bonaventure to 3-1 on the year, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 2-2 with the loss.
Canisius was once again led by senior guard Malcolm McMillan, who posted 22 points after going 4-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from 3-point land and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line. He also added five assists to his final line in 36 minutes of action. Sophomore Kassius Robertson was good for 13 points to go with three rebounds and three assists, while fellow sophomore Jermaine Crumpton chipped in 12 points in his first action of the season after serving a three-game suspension for violating team rules. Senior Jamal Reynolds recorded 10 rebounds in the losing effort for Canisius, which saw its four-game home winning streak come to an end with the loss.
The Bonnies 41-38 at the halftime break after the team shot 52.2 percent from the field, with Posley accounting for 18 points in the game's opening 20 minutes. In the opening moments of the second half, St. Bonaventure pushed its lead to as many as eight points at 55-47 with 13:49 left to play, but Canisius battled back to get within four at 57-53 after McMillan connected on a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc. The Bonnies answered with the game's next seven points, with a trey from Posley and four points from Wright in the span of 36 seconds to push their cushion to 64-53 with 9:51 left on the clock.
The Griffs were able to hang around, and a 3-pointer by Crumpton from just in front of the Griffs' bench made the score 67-64 with 6:26 left in the game. After going back-and-forth, Canisius knotted the game at 69-69 on a Crumpton tip-in off a McMillan miss with 1:47 left in regulation time, but St. Bonaventure drilled eight-straight free-throws in the game's closing 1:27 to seal the victory. Canisius had a chance to tie the game at 71 with 34 seconds left, but the Blue and Gold missed a pair of free-throws, and the Bonnies ended up hitting four-straight charity tosses as the clock ticked down.
"That was a hard-fought, rivalry game tonight," Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. "We had too many missed opportunities. We missed free-throws late with a chance to tie the game, and we went 2-for-11 from three in the first half. Give them credit, they took advantage of our mistakes. Posley was the difference for sure. He's a good player, a senior, and he took it to us tonight."
Canisius will return to action Saturday, Nov. 28, when the team travels up Main Street to meet cross-town rival Buffalo in Alumni Arena. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the radio call can be heard on Timeless WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM in the Buffalo area and on GoGriffs.com.
Game Notes: This was the 164th all-time meeting between the two schools, with St. Bonaventure now leading the series 100-64… This was just the fifth time in the series where St. Bonaventure played inside the Koessler Athletic Center… The Bonnies are the first road team to win in this series since Canisius defeated St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y., during the 2003-04 season… McMillan's 12-made free-throws and 13 attempts from the line are new career highs for the senior… McMillan has scored 10-plus points in all four games this season, and Tuesday night marks the 32nd time in his college career where he posted double-figures in the scoring column… Reynolds has now recorded 10-or more rebounds in two games this season and seven times in his career… Canisius held a 20-8 advantage in second-chance points, but the Bonnies outscored the Griffs 16-6 in fast-break points.
