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Scott Hitchon looks to make a pass in a men's basketball game against Saint Peter's Jan. 23, 2022 at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, N.Y.
Lindy Feider
60
Saint Peter's SP 7-7,5-2 MAAC
63
Winner Canisius Canis 7-12,3-5 MAAC
Saint Peter's SP
7-7,5-2 MAAC
60
Final
63
Canisius Canis
7-12,3-5 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Saint Peter's SP 34 26 60
Canisius Canis 33 30 63

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Battles Past Saint Peter’s

A 3-point field goal by Canisius graduate student Scott Hitchon and a pair of late free-throws by senior Ahamadou Fofana proved to be the difference as the Golden Griffins fought off Saint Peter's for a 63-60 win in MAAC men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
The win, Canisius' second straight, improved the Griffs to 7-12 overall and 3-5 in MAAC play, while the Peacocks slipped to 7-7 overall and 5-2 in league action with their first loss in the 2022 calendar year.
 
GAME RECAP
A pair of free-throws by Saint Peter's guard Doug Edert with 3:33 left to play on the game clock tied the score at 58-58, and that is where the score would remain for the next 90 seconds until the Peacocks took a two-point lead at 60-58 on the power of two free-throw makes by senior KC Ndefo. Those points, however, would be the last of the day for Saint Peter's, as for the second time in 40 hours, Canisius scored the game's final five points to secure a league win.
 
Out of a Canisius 30-second timeout, senior Jordan Henderson found Hitchon alone at the top of the key, and the Whitby, Ontario native stepped into a 3-pointer with 1:47 that put the Blue and Gold up 61-60. The two teams would trade misses as the clock ticked down, but with 34 seconds left to play, Saint Peter's guard Daryl Banks III pulled up for a jumped just inside the free-throw line that ended up being blocked by Canisius guard Armon Harried. Saint Peter's was able to secure the loose ball off the block, but a turn-around jumper on the baseline by Hassan Drame banged off the side of the rim, and Harried grabbed the rebound. Harried was able to outlet the ball to Fofana, who was promptly fouled by Saint Peter's to stop the clock. Fofana missed the front-end of the one-and-one chance, giving Saint Peter's another chance to tie the game or take the lead.
 
Out of their final timeout, Saint Peter's was called for a traveling violation, and Canisius inbounded the ball to Fofana, who was fouled again, this time with 6.8 seconds left. The Bronx, N.Y., native went to the line and hit both charity tosses to give Canisius the 63-60 lead. The Peacocks had one last-ditch effort to tie the game late, but Edert's deep 3-point attempt from the far wing hit the back iron and the Griffs secured the victory, the team's fifth-straight win at home.
 
In the first half, Canisius scored 17 of the game's first 23 points to take an early 17-6 lead over Saint Peter's. The Peacocks battled back and eventually took a 34-33 lead into the locker room at halftime after they outscored Canisius 14-9 in the closing 9:02 of the opening stanza. Out of the intermission, Saint Peter's stretched its lead to as many as seven points at 40-33 with 16:54 left to play. However, Canisius responded, using a 9-2 run over the next 3:04 to knot the score at 42-42 with 13:28 remaining. From there, neither team led by more than four points, as the second half saw five lead changes and two ties.
 
Fofana led all Canisius scorers with a team-high 15 points to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Henderson added 14 points to the winning effort, with 12 of those points coming in the game's second half. Hitchon tallied 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds and he matched a career-high with three blocked shots as the Griffs shot 42.2 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from 3-point land and 70.8 percent from the free-throw line in the win.
 
Hassan Drame led the way for Saint Peter's with his game-high 19 points. He also pulled down 11 rebounds, with six of those boards coming off the offensive glass. For the game, Saint Peter's out-rebounded Canisius 42-28, highlighted by 18 offensive boards and a 10-3 advantage in second-chance points. As was the case when the two teams played in Jersey City, N.J., last Tuesday, Saint Peter's exchanged Canisius turnovers for points, as the Peacocks scored 19 points off 15 Canisius turnovers for the game.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"Another hard-fought MAAC game. Saint Peter's is a really good team. They are very well-coached and they play really, really hard. I thought our guys were really locked into the things we needed to do differently than what we did on Tuesday. And we just kept battling. I don't think there is any one thing that you can point to on the stat sheet that explains why we won. The reason was perseverance. And that's not something you can see on a stat sheet."
 
"In league play, there's a lot of little details. And hopefully, we're learning. We remind ourselves not to relax. We can't relax. Ahamadou is a good example. He missed a free-throw late and put it right behind him and refocused on the next play. That's a difficult thing to learn, but it is something you absolutely have to do. Even if things are going great, you have to put the last play behind you. That's so key in these tight, one-possession games."
 
"What happens a lot of times is that one mistake leads to another mistake. But as you start to get this mindset of perseverance and embrace the next play mentality, no one remembers if you missed a free-throw. You go next time and make that free-throw. Then you get a stop. And it just builds. You have to compartmentalize things when you're out there. It is a life lesson too. That's a life lesson we're learning through basketball."
 
"We talked about the rebounding at halftime. We had 11 total rebounds and they had 11 offensive rebounds. That's how badly we got out-rebounded, and we out-rebounded them on Tuesday, which is very hard to do. We kept talking about it. We were telling our guards that we needed them to get in there and get us some rebounds. Fortunately, we were able to get some timely defensive rebounds late in the game and that proved to be huge for us."
 
GAME NOTES
• Sunday was the 87th all-time meeting between the two Jesuit schools. Canisius leads the series 50-37.
• The Griffs have now won five straight at home, the team's longest home winning streak since the 2017-18 campaign.
• Canisius is the third MAAC team to win seven home games this season, joining Iona and Quinnipiac.
• Sunday marked the first time Canisius had won a game this season when trailing at halftime.
• All three of Henderson's 3-point makes came in the second half. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has now made multiple 3-point field goals in 29 career games.
• Henderson made his 50th consecutive start on Sunday, which leads all active players on the Canisius roster.
• Sunday marked the third time Hitchon had three blocked shots in a game, with the last occasion coming against Saint Peter's on Jan. 12, 2020.
• Hitchon drew his seventh offensive charge of the season. He is the program's active leader in drawn charges with 22 to his credit.
• Fofana is averaging 13.5 points per game since rejoining the starting line-up Dec. 11 at Youngstown State.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will head out of town for a three-game road swing, starting Jan. 28, when the Griffs play at Monmouth in West Long Branch, N.J. That game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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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