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Siem Uijtendaal fires a 3-pointer against Cleveland State on Nov. 20, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio
Anthony Militello
70
Canisius Canis 0-4,0-0 MAAC
80
Winner Cleveland St. CSU 2-2,0-0 Horizon
Canisius Canis
0-4,0-0 MAAC
70
Final
80
Cleveland St. CSU
2-2,0-0 Horizon
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 34 36 70
Cleveland St. CSU 45 35 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Cleveland State’s Hot Start Is Too Much for Men’s Basketball

Cleveland State scored the game's first 14 points to start the contest, and then held off a late charge by Canisius down the stretch, as the host Vikings scored an 80-70 victory over the Golden Griffins in the first game of the Cerebro Sports Lake Erie Challenge Saturday afternoon at Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The win moves Cleveland State to 2-2 on the year, while Canisius fell to 0-4 with the loss.
 
Three Canisius players recorded double-figures in the scoring column on Saturday, led by sophomore Siem Uijtendaal, who tallied a career-high 18 points. Junior Jacco Fritz recorded his second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and senior Malek Green added 15 points and six boards in the loss. Cleveland State's D'Moi Hodge led all scorers with his game-high 27 points.
 
GAME RECAP
Hodge set the tone early for the Vikings, as he scored 10 of his team's first 14 points in the opening 3:36 of the contest to give Cleveland State a 14-0 lead. Canisius finally got on the scoreboard with 16:13 left before halftime after senior George Maslennikov drained his first 3-pointer of the season. Cleveland State controlled play for most of the first half with its lead ballooning to as many as 19 points with a little over 8:00 left before intermission, and the Vikings went into the locker room up 45-34 after they shot 66.7 percent from the field and 70 percent (7-for-10) from behind the arc in the game's first 20 minutes.
 
In the second half, Canisius trailed 63-49 with 8:19 left to play, but the Griffs used an 8-3 run over the game's next 2:35 to slice Cleveland State's lead down to nine at 66-57 with 5:21 left to play. In that run, which was capped by a 3-point make by junior Akrum Ahemed, Fritz made three free-throws and Uijtendaal knocked down a 3-ball from the left wing. Moments later, another 3-point make by Uijtendaal trimmed Cleveland State's cushion to just six at 68-62, but the Vikings ended Canisius' thoughts of a comeback win, as Torrey Patton scored back-to-back buckets to make the score 72-62 with 2:57 left on the clock.
 
Uijtendaal's 18 points came off a 7-for-14 shooting performance, with four of those makes coming from 3-point land. He also added three assists and two steals to the Griffs' effort. Fritz went 4-for-8 from the floor and 7-for-10 from the free-throw line in the loss, and six of his game-high 10 rebounds came off the offensive glass. For the game, Canisius shot 37.7 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from 3-point land and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line, while Cleveland State shot 57.4 percent from the floor despite not making a 3-pointer in the game's second half.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"Cleveland State is a veteran team with a lot of weapons and we were not ready to match their intensity. We had three turnovers in the first four minutes of the game and that put us on our heels right from the start, at both ends of the floor."
 
"We'll get back to work tomorrow and we'll continue to work on the things that we can control. It starts with us."
 
GAME NOTES
• This was the fifth all-time meeting between these two schools, and Cleveland State now leads the series 4-1, with three of those four victories coming in Cleveland.
• The Griffs out-rebounded the Vikings in the loss, the first time this season Canisius has won the rebounding battle.
• The Griffs' 10 3-point makes on Saturday marks the second time this season the Blue and Gold has drained 10-or more 3-pointers in a game. Canisius had a season-high 12 3-point field goals at East Carolina Nov. 12.
• Uijtendaal's 18 points off the bench are the most for a Canisius reserve this season.
• Fritz's double-double is the fifth of his career. He is the first Canisius player since Malik Johnson in 2019-20 to record a double-double in back-to-back games.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will open a five-game homestand on Monday when the Golden Griffins play host to Fredonia in the team's 2021-22 home opener. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
 
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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