Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Isaiah Reese
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
80
Winner Jacksonville State JSU 22-12
78
Canisius CAN 21-12
Winner
Jacksonville State JSU
22-12
80
Final
78
Canisius CAN
21-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Jacksonville State JSU 37 34 9 80
Canisius CAN 33 38 7 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Season Ends With Overtime Loss

Game Recap
Canisius sophomore guard Isaiah Reese hit a 3-pointer at the final horn of regulation to send the game into overtime, but in the extra session, Jacksonville State's Malcolm Drumwright scored four of his team-high 20 points, as the visiting Gamecocks defeated Canisius 80-78 in the opening round of the 2018 College Basketball Invitational in the Koessler Athletic Center. With the win, Jacksonville State (22-12) advances to the CBI quarterfinal round, while the Golden Griffins see their season end with a 21-12 record.
 
Canisius trailed 71-68 in the closing seconds of regulation time, but Reese, the first Canisius sophomore to earn All-MAAC First Team honors since 1994, took a feed from fellow sophomore Malik Johnson and banged home a triple as the final horn sounded to push the game into an extra period of play. In overtime, Canisius came out of the gate hot, scoring the first four points in 1:04 to take a 75-71 lead, but a pair of free-throws by Jacksonville State's Jason Burnell and Drumwright knotted the game at 75-75 with 3:12 left to play. A free-throw by senior Jermaine Crumpton and two makes at the stripe by Reese put the Blue and Gold back in the lead at 78-75 with 2:23 left on the clock, but the Gamecocks answered with the game's final five points to make the score 80-78. Canisius had a chance to win the game at the end of the overtime session, but a last-second 3-point shot banged off the front-iron as the horn sounded, thus ending Canisius' year.
 
Reese led all scorers with a game-high 24 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Crumpton, who became just the eighth player in program history to play in more than 120-career games as a Griff, ended his time in Blue and Gold with 16 points. He also added five rebounds and three steals to the Griffs' effort. With his 16 points on Wednesday, Crumpton ended his career with 1,587 points, which ties him for sixth all-time with former Griffs forward Darrell Barley. MAAC Rookie of the Year Takal Molson added 15 points, five boards, five assists and four steals in the losing effort, while Johnson chipped in 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals. For the game, Canisius shot 37.7 percent from the field, 24.1 percent from 3-point land and 69.4 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Drumwright added six assists and eight boards to his 20-point effort for the Gamecocks, while senior Norbertas Giga posted a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Jacksonville State shot 42.2 percent from the field, just 15 percent from behind the 3-point line and 88.5 percent from the charity stripe in the win, while ending the contest with a 53-28 advantage on the glass.
 
The 21 wins for Canisius this season marks the program's ninth 20-win campaign, and the first for the team since 2013-14. Canisius, which won a share of the MAAC regular-season championship, won 15 games in MAAC play, setting a new program record for conference victories in a single-season.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"I certainly wish we could have pulled this one out tonight, but we didn't have what it takes on the backboards. We won the turnover battle, we forced them to turn it over 24 times, but you can't get out-rebounded like we did and win a lot of games."
 
"Playing in a postseason event means a lot, because anytime you can give your seniors another opportunity, it is special. I'm thankful to Canisius College and those who allowed us to play another home game."
 
"To win a regular-season championship, to win those road games down the stretch late in the year when a lot of people didn't think we could get it done, to end up where we are after being picked ninth in the league with such a young team – those are the kinds of things the guys, especially our seniors, can look back on with pride someday. I hope that when the dust settles, and our returners think about this past year, they'll use those points and the feelings we have here tonight and from a few weeks ago, as motivation to keep moving this thing forward."
 
Game Notes
• This was the first meeting between the two programs.
• Canisius was appearing in the national postseason for the 14th time in program history. This was the Griffs' first appearance in the CBI.
• Canisius is now 13-17 all-time in postseason play.
• The Griffs were credited with 14 steals in the losing effort. That sets a new Koessler Athletic Center record for steals in a game by Canisius, besting the previous mark of 13, set Jan. 19, 2013 against Siena.
• Crumpton ended his career at Canisius scoring in double-figures in his final 29 games, and 83 times in his career.
• Crumpton's 563 total points this season ranks as the fourth-most for a Canisius senior since 1945.
• Reese's 24-point effort was his 11th game this year with 20-plus points scored.
• Reese ended his sophomore campaign with 83 3-point field goals, making him the first sophomore in program history to make 80-plus treys in a season.
• Reese also finished the year with 73 steals, which ties former Griff Craig Wise for second on the school's single-season steals list.
• Molson's 417 points in his freshman season makes him just the second Canisius rookie to score 400-plus points in his first year on Main Street. Former Griff 'Sugar' Ray Hall scored 454 points in 1981-82.
• Molson's 10 made free-throws, and 12 chances from the stripe on Wednesday, set new program postseason records in both categories.
• Johnson ended his sophomore campaign with 152 assists, making him just the second Griff, along with Frank Turner, to dish out 145-plus assists in their first two seasons in the Blue and Gold.
• Reggie Witherspoon is just the second head coach in program history to lead the team to the national postseason in each of his first two years as the team's head coach, joining him with former bench boss Jim Baron.
Print Friendly Version