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Canisius University Athletics

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Akrum Ahemed looks to make a pass in a road game at Monmouth on Dec. 28, 2020.
Karlee Sell
67
Canisius Canis 0-1,0-0 MAAC
77
Winner Miami (FL) Miami 1-0,0-0 ACC
Canisius Canis
0-1,0-0 MAAC
67
Final
77
Miami (FL) Miami
1-0,0-0 ACC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 31 36 67
Miami (FL) Miami 37 40 77

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short at Miami

Miami guard Kameron McGusty posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and his teammate Anthony Walker came off the bench to add 14 points, four boards and three blocked shots as the host Hurricanes recorded a 77-67 win over Canisius in men's basketball action Tuesday night at Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla. The contest was the season-opener for both squads.
 
Canisius senior Malek Green led all scorers with 21 points, and he also grabbed eight rebounds to go with three assists and a blocked shot in the losing effort for the Golden Griffins. Junior Armon Harried was good for 11 points and fellow junior Akrum Ahemed scored 10 points to go along with three assists and three steals.
 
GAME RECAP
Green scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, as Canisius went into the locker room trailing Miami by six at 37-31, despite trailing by as many as 11 points with 5:41 left before intermission. Out of the halftime break, Canisius used a 7-2 run over the span of 1:46 to trim the Hurricanes' lead to 40-38, highlighted by a step-back 3-point field goal from senior Jordan Henderson. Miami responded with an 8-1 run of its own over the game's next 1:18, with six of those points coming off a pair of treys by McGusty.
 
Miami's lead in the second half would balloon to as many as 10 points at 50-40 with 14:53 left on the clock, but the Griffs answered once again, trimming the lead to just four points at 50-46 on the power of a 6-0 run, with all six points coming from Harried. A pair of free-throws by freshman Xzavier Long with 12:11 left in the contest kept Canisius within six points at 54-48, but the Hurricanes pulled away for good with an 11-1 run over the game's next 4:00, with Walker accounting for seven of Miami's points in that surge.
 
Four Miami players scored in double-figures in the contest, with McGusty leading the way with his 20 points. Charlie Moore and Sam Waardenburg added 13 and 10 points, respectively for the Hurricanes, who ended the contest shooting 48.3 percent from the field, 29.4 percent from 3-point land and 63.6 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Henderson finished the night with nine points in the loss for Canisius, which shot 41.4 percent from the field, 23.8 percent from 3-point land and 58.3 percent from the charity stripe for the contest. Senior guard Ahamadou Fofana added six points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists to the Griffs' cause.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"I think we turned the ball over far too many times in the second half. And it felt like those turnovers came at some critical points. We just lost our poise as a group, and then on top of all that, we didn't make enough free-throws. Defensively, we had some breakdowns where we just lost our focus and awareness, and you can't do that against a team like Miami and expect to win."
 
"Give them credit, they are explosively quick, and those are the types of things you can't always see on video. Where we are, with help-side defensive and rotations, it only takes a quick second to breakdown and they took advantage."
 
"We saw some of what we're hoping for from Malek [Green], but we need some more from him and from some other guys as well. Offensively, we were a little hesitant at times and they were not. And that was probably one of the bigger factors in the game."
 
GAME NOTES
• Tuesday marked the first time Canisius and Miami met in a game, not just in men's basketball, but in any sport that both schools currently sponsor.
• Canisius opened the season against an ACC school for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign when the Griffs played at Duke.
• Canisius has now played at least one game against all 15 current members of the ACC.
• Green's 21 points in the loss marks the fourth time in his collegiate career where he's scored 20-plus points in a game. Three of those occasions have come in his 14 career games as a Griff.
• Green made his first career start as a Griff on Tuesday. He started 35 games in two seasons at Morehead State prior to joining the Canisius program.
• Ahemed set a new career-high with his 10 points. He also set a new career-high with his three steals.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will travel to play at East Carolina on Friday, Nov. 12, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with the live audio call available through the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network on 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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