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Jacco Fritz goes in to score a basket against Marist in a game played at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 11, 2020.
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53
Canisius Canis 6-4,6-4 MAAC
66
Winner Fairfield Fairf 6-15,6-10 MAAC
Canisius Canis
6-4,6-4 MAAC
53
Final
66
Fairfield Fairf
6-15,6-10 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 21 32 53
Fairfield Fairf 33 33 66

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Sees Win Streak End at Fairfield

Game Recap
Fairfield senior Jesus Cruz scored a game-high 17 points and junior Jake Wojcik added 16 points and six rebounds as the host Stags defeated Canisius 66-53 Saturday evening at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn. The loss ended Canisius' five-game win streak and dropped the Golden Griffins to 6-4 overall, 6-4 in MAAC action, while Fairfield improved to 6-15 overall and 6-10 in conference games with the victory.
 
For Canisius, junior Malek Green scored a team-high 14 points to go with six rebounds, while senior Majesty Brandon chipped in 13 points and two assists. Sophomore Armon Harried was good for a season-high 10 points and fellow sophomore Jacco Fritz posted nine points, a game-high 10 rebounds and four assists.
 
Cruz's 17 points came after he went 6-for-10 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free-throw line in 28:45 of action off the bench. For the game, Fairfield shot 41 percent (25-for-61) from the floor, with 42 of its 66 points coming from the paint. The Stags also controlled the rebounding battle, out-rebounding the Blue and Gold by a 44-31 clip, with 16 of those 44 rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
 
Canisius took an early 2-0 lead on a bucket by Harried, and that would end up being the Griffs' only lead of the game. Fairfield raced out to an 11-2 lead 5:06 into the contest, with Cruz accounting for five of Fairfield's first 11 points. Cruz closed out the opening half with 11 points, as the Stags held a 33-21 lead at the intermission break.
 
In the second half, Canisius trimmed the Stags' cushion to seven at 36-29 with 14:53 left on the game clock after Fritz knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cap a 6-0 run. After blowing an 11-point first half lead on Friday, Fairfield showed no interest in letting the Blue and Gold back into the game, as the Stags took control of the contest with a 6-0 run of their own over the game's next 1:04 to push the cushion to 42-29 with 13:17 left to play.
 
As a team, Canisius shot just 33.9 percent (19-for-56) from the field and made 5-of-22 3-point tries. After turning the ball over a season-low seven times on Friday, the Griffs were charged with 13 turnovers in the loss on Saturday, which Fairfield was able to turn into 14 points.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"Give Fairfield all the credit tonight. Like they did last night, they came out and played hard at both ends of the floor for 40 minutes. We did not match their compete-level tonight. These back-to-back games are difficult, but you need to be ready to give maximum effort at both ends of the floor both nights."

"We knew coming in that this was going to be a grind-it-out kind of game. We talked last night as a team that we knew Fairfield was going to do everything they could to keep the score in the 60s, maybe even the 50s. That's right where they wanted it to be, and we were not up to that type of fight tonight. When you're not making shots on offense, you have to remain discipline and really lock in at the other end of the floor, and that's not where we were tonight."
 
Game Notes
• This was the 90th all-time meeting between these two Jesuit schools. Fairfield now leads the series 50-40.
• The Griffs' five-game win streak in MAAC play was the program's longest since 2017-18.
• The five made 3-point field goals for Canisius on Saturday are the fewest for the team this season.
• Green has led the Griffs in scoring in each of the team's last two games after he posted a career-high 29 points in the victory on Friday.
• Fritz's 10 rebounds matches a season high, as he also grabbed 10 boards in a home win over Saint Peter's back on Jan. 1.
• Brandon has scored 10-or more points in a game six times this season and 28 times in his career, which leads all active Canisius players.

Up Next
Canisius will close out the home portion of the 2020-21 regular season next weekend (Feb. 26-27) when the Griffs play host to Manhattan at the Koessler Athletic Center. Both games will tip-off at 7 p.m., and both contests will be broadcast live on either ESPN3 or ESPN+. 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.
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