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Canisius University Athletics

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Faulkner_Jibreel_2019_MAAC_Championships
Stockton Photo, Inc.
65
Manhattan MAN 11-21
69
Winner Canisius CAN 15-16
Manhattan MAN
11-21
65
Final
69
Canisius CAN
15-16
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
Manhattan MAN 32 25 8 65
Canisius CAN 25 32 12 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Advances With Overtime Win over Manhattan

Game Recap
Canisius senior Jabreel Faulkner scored eight of his team-high 20 points in overtime and junior Malik Johnson scored Canisius' final four points in the closing nine seconds of overtime to help the second-seeded Golden Griffins defeat Manhattan 69-65 Friday night in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 MAAC Men's Basketball Championship at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.
 
With the win, Canisius (15-16) advances to the semifinal round of the MAAC Tournament on Sunday, where the Blue and Gold will play either Quinnipiac or Monmouth. That game, which will be broadcast live on ESPNU, will tip-off at 8:30 p.m. Manhattan's season ends at 11-21 with the loss.
 
The Griffs, who trailed by as many as 12 points in the early stages of the second half, were down 54-47 with 5:28 left in regulation time. From there, Canisius scored six-straight points in the span of 1:27 to make it a one-point game at 54-53 with 3:50 left on the game clock. The Griffs trailed by two at 57-55 with less than a minute to play before sophomore Takal Molson knotted the game at 57-all with a bucket with 43.1 seconds left on the clock. Manhattan had a chance late to win the game in regulation with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, but senior Marcale Lotts blocked Manhattan's last-second chance to win in regulation, sending the contest to overtime.
 
In the overtime period, Canisius took its first lead of the game on a put-back by Faulkner 40 seconds into the extra session. After Manhattan answered with a bucket on its next trip down the floor, Faulkner was able to give the Blue and Gold some breathing room, as he knocked down back-to-back 3-point field goals 52 seconds apart to put Canisius up 65-60 with 2:45 left in the extra session. Manhattan trimmed Canisius' hold to 67-65, Johnson put the Griffs up four with a driving lay-up in traffic with 9.2 seconds left, and the Richmond, Va., native would later hit a pair of free-throws with 1.9 seconds left to play in overtime to seal the win, Canisius' first victory at the MAAC Championship since 2017.
 
Faulkner ended the night by going 8-for-10 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point land in the win, and he also added eight rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot in 34 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Jalanni White matched a career-high with 16 points after going a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor, and Molson ended the night with 15 points and three boards before he fouled out of the contest with 13.2 seconds left in regulation time. Johnson was good for 11 points, six rebounds and six assists in the win, as the Griffs shot 46.0 percent from the field, 30.0 percent from 3-point land and 73.9 percent from the free-throw line.
 
For the Jaspers, freshman Warren Williams scored a career-high 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting and sophomore Nehemiah Mack chipped in 13 points. Freshman Tykei Greene snagged a team-high seven boards for Manhattan, which out-rebounded the Griffs by a 34-29 clip. For the contest, the Jaspers shot 39.3 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from the perimeter.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"All the credit goes to our guys on getting this win. But you have to give credit to Manhattan, too. They came in here and had a great game plan. They had a great game plan when we played them the first time as well. They're a tough team to prepare for. But credit to our guys for dealing with adversity and staying together as a team."

"Thank God, for our guys sticking together and pulling together, through all of the ups and downs. A game like this is going to have a lot of that and for a while, it was like we just were continuing to fight uphill. When it looked like we got our footing, it seemed like we couldn't get a defensive rebound. But the thing that we did do was persevere."
 
Game Notes
• Friday was the 93rd all-time meeting between Canisius and Manhattan, with the Jaspers leading the series 55-38. However, in MAAC Championship play, Canisius is now 2-0 against Manhattan.
• Friday marked the fourth time in program history where the Griffs played an overtime game at the MAAC Championship. Canisius is 3-1 in extra-session games in the conference's postseason tournament.
• Canisius' win advances the Griffs to the MAAC Championship semifinal round for the first time since 2014.
• The Griffs are now 11-3 in games decided by five points or less this season, with the 11 wins setting a new program record for wins in game decided by five points or fewer.
• Faulkner scored 20 points in each of the team's two games against Manhattan this season.
• Johnson's six assists on Friday gives him 452 in his career, two shy of passing former Griffs guard Rodney Brown for fourth on the school's career assist list.
 
Up Next
Canisius will play either Quinnipiac or Monmouth on Sunday in the semifinal round of the tournament. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live to a national TV audience on ESPNU. The radio call will be available on WECK-Radio Buffalo, GoGriffs.com and the TuneIn app.
 
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