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Majesty Brandon shoots over the Quinnipiac defenders at the Koessler Athletic Center on Jan. 31, 2020 in MAAC Basketball action
Dean Bogart
90
Winner Quinnipiac QUI 11-8, 6-3 MAAC
73
Canisius CAN 8-13, 3-7 MAAC
Winner
Quinnipiac QUI
11-8, 6-3 MAAC
90
Final
73
Canisius CAN
8-13, 3-7 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Quinnipiac QUI 35 55 90
Canisius CAN 36 37 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Quinnipiac Takes Down Men’s Basketball

Game Recap
Quinnipiac sophomore Tyrese Williams led all scorers with a career-high 26 points, while teammates Rich Kelly and Brendan McGuire added 15 points each to help lead the visiting Bobcats to a 90-73 win over Canisius Friday night in MAAC men's basketball action at the Koessler Athletic Center. The win moved Quinnipiac to 11-8 overall and 6-3 in conference play while the Golden Griffins fell to 8-13 overall and 3-7 in conference action with their third-straight loss.
 
Williams' 26 points came after he knocked down eight 3-point field goals in the win. He also grabbed four rebounds and was credited with an assist in the victory. For the game, the Bobcats shot 61.1 percent from the field, 53.6 percent from 3-point land and the team went a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Fifteen of the Bobcats' 33 baskets came from 3-point range, and the visiting squad shot 70.4 percent from the floor and 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from behind the arc in the game's second half.
 
Canisius, which dressed only eight players due to injury and illness, was led by junior Majesty Brandon, who scored a team-high 19 points. Senior Malik Johnson recorded his fourth double-double of the season (his third in four games) with 14 points and 11 assists to go with seven boards and a steal, while senior Corey Brown, sophomore Jordan Henderson and freshman Armon Harried added 10 points apiece. Junior Scott Hitchon also had 10 points in the losing effort as the Blue and Gold shot 48.4 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from 3-point land and 57.1 percent from the charity stripe for the night.
 
Canisius used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to turn a tie game into a 25-15 lead for the home squad. In that run, Brandon scored seven points and Johnson added a 3-pointer to put the Blue and Gold up 10 with 8:38 left before intermission. Quinnipiac would battle back and hold a 33-29 lead with 2:13 left in the opening stanza before the Griffs got buckets by Henderson, Johnson and Brandon to send Canisius into the locker room up 36-35 at the break.
 
Quinnipiac opened the second half by hitting four 3-pointers in the first 4:48 of the frame to take a 52-44 lead, and the Bobcats' lead ballooned to as many as 22 points with 3:42 left in the ball game. Five different Quinnipiac players hit a three-ball in the second half, and the Bobcats controlled the glass in the game's final 20 minutes to post a 33-22 advantage on the boards for the contest.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"The shot the ball really, really well. They moved it and they found the openings. The guys we had tonight, they gave a lot of effort. Obviously, when you're short-handed like we are, we came in with eight and one of those eight is sick, you have to give credit to the guys who played hard and gave effort."
 
"When you have eight, and one of those guys is saying he's not sure he's going to be able to do it, then it becomes really tough. We had four guards and all of them started. That puts a lot of pressure on them from a fatigue standpoint."
 
Game Notes
• This was the 14th meeting in series history, dating back to 2012-13. Canisius leads the series 9-5, with three of Quinnipiac's wins coming at the Koessler Athletic Center.
• The 90 points allowed are the most for the Griffs this season.
• Johnson has now recorded double-digit assists in four games this season and five times in his career. The 11 on Friday night matched his season-high, set previous on Jan. 19 against Rider.
• Both Johnson and Brandon played all 40 minutes for Canisius. For Johnson, Friday marked the 13 times this season he's played the entire game, while the 40 minutes for Brandon are a career-high.
• Brown's 10 points matched his season-high, set in the season-opener at Brown Nov. 9.
• The Griffs turned the ball over a season-low five times in the loss.

Up Next
Canisius will close out its weekend homestand on Sunday when the team plays host to Marist. Game time is set for 2 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the radio call will be available through WECK Buffalo Radio (1230-AM, 100.5-FM and 102.9-FM) and GoGriffs.com.
 
For complete coverage of Canisius men's basketball, please follow the Griffs on social media at @Griffs_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
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