Men's Basketball Comes Up Short at UOttawa

OTTAWA -- The host uOttawa Gee-Gees outscored Canisius 32-8 in the first quarter of play and held off a second-half rally that saw Golden Griffins get within four in the closing minute of the third frame en route to an 85-74 victory Tuesday night in Montpetit Hall on the campus of uOttawa. The win moves uOttawa to 2-1 against NCAA Division I teams this summer, while Canisius suffered its first setback in four games on its foreign tour.

For Canisius, sophomore Isaiah Reese scored a game-high 24 points to lead four Griffs in double-figures. Junior Jonathan Sanks was good for 11 points, five rebounds and two steals, while senior Jermaine Crumpton and freshman Takal Molson added 10 points each. For the game, Canisius shot 43.3 percent from the field, 18.5 percent from 3-point land and 64.7 percent from the free-throw line.

For the Gee-Gees, Gage Sabean had 21 points after making seven 3-point field goals. Brody Maracle was credited with a double-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and Calvin Epistola chipped in 11 points and five assists. uOttawa ended the game shooting 53.4 percent from the field, 44.8 percent from 3-point range and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe.

"I think the game moved way to quickly for our bigger line-up at the start, and uOttawa took advantage of that," Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "They came out at us from the start. This was our fourth game in four days and we traveled here today, so we had some tired legs. We decided at halftime that we were going to go small, and we really learned a lot from that. I was impressed with our response tonight. Our guys could have packed it in early, but they kept going and stayed together as a group. I was pleased with the way they fought through adversity and cut their 30-point lead down to single-digits."

uOttawa shot 64.5 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from behind the arc in the first half to take a 51-21 lead into the locker room at the break. In the third quarter, Canisius held all of the momentum, outscoring the host Gee-Gees 37-11 to make the score 62-58 at the end of three quarters of play. In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, uOttawa was able to distance itself from Canisius thanks to three-straight treys, two of which coming from Sabean.

"Our smaller line-up allowed us to really pressure them and turn them over," Witherspoon said. "We forced 13 turnovers in 10 minutes. That's a good sign for sure. But our start put us in a place where we had no room for error, and we were fatigued, and they took advantage."

Canisius will wrap up its five-game swing through Canada on Wednesday when the team plays at Carleton. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#2 Jermaine Crumpton: F; 6' 6"; Senior

#13 Isaiah Reese: G; 6' 5"; Sophomore

#3 Jonathan Sanks: G; 6' 4"; Junior

#15 Takal Molson: G; 6' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#2 Jermaine Crumpton
: 6' 6"; Senior
: F

#13 Isaiah Reese
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#3 Jonathan Sanks
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

#15 Takal Molson
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: G