Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Jacco Fritz slams one home in the second half of a Canisius win over Saint Peter's on Jan. 1, 2021.
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
74
Winner Canisius Canis 4-3,4-3 MAAC
67
Quinnipiac QU 5-8,3-6 MAAC
Winner
Canisius Canis
4-3,4-3 MAAC
74
Final
67
Quinnipiac QU
5-8,3-6 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 21 53 74
Quinnipiac QU 34 33 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Fights Back for Road Win at Quinnipiac

Game Recap
The Canisius men's basketball team shot 51.5 percent from the field, hit five 3-point baskets and drained 14-of-18 chances from the free-throw line in the game's second half to comeback from a 15-point first-half deficit en route to a 74-67 win at Quinnipiac Friday afternoon in Hamden, Conn.
 
The win, Canisius' third-straight, came after the team had been sidelined since Jan. 6 due to Covid-19 related issues. The Golden Griffins are now 4-3 overall and 4-3 in MAAC play with the victory, while Quinnipiac slipped to 5-8 overall and 3-6 in league action.
 
Sophomore Jacco Fritz led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, with 10 of those points coming from the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds to go with two assists and two blocked shots in 31:20 of game action. Junior Ahamadou Fofana scored 16 points, 13 of which came after halftime, and fellow junior Malek Green was good for 11 points, nine boards and two steals off the bench. For the game, Canisius shot just 31.9 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point land, but the Blue and Gold made 22-of-28 free-throws in the victory and ended up out-rebounding the Bobcats by a 45-39 clip.
 
Fritz scored the game's first basket to put Canisius ahead 2-0 1:28 into the contest, but Quinnipiac took over from there, scoring the game's next 15 points to take a 15-2 lead with 9:54 left before halftime. The Bobcats took their largest lead of the game at 34-19 with 1:13 left in the opening stanza on the power a of 3-point field goal by Tymu Chenery, and the home team held a 34-21 lead over the Griffs at intermission after Canisius shot just 15.4 percent (6-for-39) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of action.
 
The Griffs came out of the intermission and quickly cut Quinnipiac's lead to 10 at 34-24 thanks to a 3-point make by Fofana, but the Bobcats were able to keep their distance from the Blue and Gold until the 13:00 mark of the second half when Green scored a buck off an assist from Fofana to make the score 46-42 in favor of the home team. That was as close as Canisius would get for the game's next 7:51, however, before the Griffs made it a one-possession game on a 3-ball make by senior Majesty Brandon, who finished the day with eight points.
 
Canisius took the lead for good with 3:44 left to play when Fofana drained the third of his three 3-point makes on the day – a bucket that gave the Griffs a 63-62 lead. Down the stretch, Canisius made nine free-throws in the game's closing 55 seconds to seal the win, a win which snapped the Griffs' two-game losing skid to Quinnipiac, dating back to last season.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"It took us a little while to get going, obviously, but to their credit, our guys our guys kept playing hard. We struggled on offense and we weren't able to get in any sort of a rhythm, but our guys kept playing hard and they didn't let the misses at one end affect them at the other end of the floor. We had good looks and we had the right guys taking shots, they just were not falling. Quinnipiac is a good team and they can get away from you quickly with their ability to shoot the three, but our guys just kept playing hard and they kept hustling. That kept us within striking distance."
 
"We talked before the game, and then again at halftime, about staying calm and playing hard. We knew we were going to have to deal with some rough patches in the game. You can't work through those in practice. You can't work through those when you're sitting out. I stressed to the team that we needed to remain calm, and control what we can control. You can control your effort. You can control your focus. Our guys were able to do that throughout the game, and that left us in a position to be able to strike back, get even, and then eventually get ahead."
 
"We've really been working on stressing the importance of possessions. Whether that means getting offensive rebounds to get more shots, or limiting turnovers, those are keys to being successful. We were able to turn them over a bit, but the 16 offensive rebounds allowed us to get 72 shot attempts, which is a lot for a 40-minute game. A lot of that is effort and hustle, and I thought we had contributions from a lot of guys today. You look at a stat sheet, and there aren't numbers that are going to jump out at you from everyone, but we needed those guys to give us good minutes and they came in and contributed to the effort."
 
Game Notes
• Friday was the 16th all-time meeting between the two schools, and Canisius now leads the series 10-6.
• Friday stands as Canisius' first road victory of the season in its third road contest of the year.
• The 50-points scored by Canisius in the game's second half are the most for the Blue and Gold in a 20-minute span this season.
• The 72 shot attempts for the Griffs are the most for the team in a regulation game since Feb. 2, 2018 in a road win over Marist.
• Fritz's 18 points matched a career high for the sophomore, set previously at Niagara on Feb. 12, 2020.
• Green has five-or more rebounds in each of his first seven games as a Griff.
• After making four 3-point field goals through his first five career games as a Griff, Fofana now has five triples in the team's last two contests.

Up Next
Canisius will close out its two-game MAAC series at Quinnipiac tomorrow, with game time set for 1 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the radio call 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.
Print Friendly Version