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Canisius University Athletics

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Jacco Fritz drives baseline in a home game against Fairfield at the Koessler Athletic Center on Dec. 3, 2021.
Ken Morey
62
Canisius Canis 7-13,3-6 MAAC
70
Winner Rider Rider 6-13,2-7 MAAC
Canisius Canis
7-13,3-6 MAAC
62
Final
70
Rider Rider
6-13,2-7 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 32 30 62
Rider Rider 39 31 70

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Tripped Up by Rider

Rider senior guard Dwight Murray Jr., had a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds and backcourt mate Allen Powell was good 16 points and two steals as the host Broncs defeated Canisius 70-62 in MAAC men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
 
With the win, Rider moves to 7-13 overall and 3-7 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 7-14 overall and 3-7 in league play with their second-straight loss.
 
GAME RECAP
A 3-point field goal by senior Jordan Henderson with 9:00 left in the first half put Canisius up 24-19, but Rider responded, and took control of the game, with a 17-3 run over the 5:39 that put the home team up 36-27 with 2:24 left before halftime. In that run, Murray scored seven of Rider's points and reserve big man Nehemiah Benson added four points to build Rider's cushion to nine. A 3-pointer by Canisius senior Ahamdou Fofana with 18 seconds left before intermission cut the Rider lead to 37-32, but Murray sent his team into the locker room up 39-32 at the break with a jumper as the horn sounded to end the first stanza.
 
In the second half, Rider stretched its lead to 11 points at 43-32 with 18:46 left to play, but Canisius battled back and cut the Broncs' cushion to just two points at 43-41 thanks to a 9-0 run in the span of 1:27. Henderson kicked started that push for the Blue and Gold with a 3-pointer, and he capped the scoring run moments later with a backdoor lay-up off a feed from graduate student Scott Hitchon, one of his team-high four assists on the day.
 
A lay-up by junior Armon Harried with 16:00 left to play put Canisius down two at 45-43, but Rider once again answered with a scoring run to pull away for good, as the Broncs outscored the Griffs 11-3 over the next 3:12, with Murray Jr., and Powell accounting for seven of Rider's points during the surge to give the Broncs a 56-46 lead with 11:13 remaining.
 
Canisius had four players score in double-figures in the losing effort, led by Harried, who tallied 12 points. Hitchon, junior Akrum Ahemed and junior Jacco Fritz all scored 10 points for the Blue and Gold, and Fritz ended the game by leading all Canisius players with nine rebounds. Henderson was good for eight points, four boards, two assists and two steals for the Griffs, who ended the day shooting 34.4 percent from the field, 32 percent (8-for-25) from 3-point range and just 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from the free-throw line. Additionally, Canisius turned the ball over 14 times on the day, which Rider was able to convert into 17 points.
 
The Broncs shot 51.9 percent from the field and hit on 6-of-14 shots from behind the arc in the victory, the team's first home league win of the season. Twenty-eight (28) of Rider's 70 points in the victory were scored in the paint.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"We turned the ball over nine times in the first half. You can't have nine empty possessions. It just can't happen. And then after that, we got very impatient and we took some bad shots. You are never going to be able to grind out a road win when you essentially help the other team."
 
"I thought we played hard today, but we didn't do a good enough job defensively, particularly around the basket. And that's been an issue for us for a while. You look at the stats, they only took 14 threes."
 
"Playing these games on a quick turnaround means we don't have a lot of time to practice. That means there's limited things we can correct on the practice court. We will watch film tonight and get started on preparing to play Siena first thing tomorrow morning."
 
GAME NOTES
• Sunday marked the 55th all-time meeting between these two programs, and Rider leads the series 39-16.
• The eight-point win for Rider serves as the largest margin of victory for either team in this series since Canisius beat Rider 95-86 at home on Jan. 19, 2020.
• Canisius and Rider have split the regular-season series three times since 2018-19. The two schools did not play during the 2020-21 regular season.
• Harried has tallied double-figures in the scoring column in three of the team's last four contests.
• Henderson's two makes from 3-point land on Sunday gives him 114 career makes from 3-point land. Sunday marked the 30th time in his career where he's recorded multiple 3-point makes in a game.
• Fritz's nine rebounds are the most for the junior since he grabbed nine boards at Niagara Jan. 13. Three of his nine rebounds for the game came off the offensive glass.
• Hitchon's 3-point make in the first half was the 70th triple in his career and his four assists are a season high.
• After scoring 11 points at Monmouth on Friday, Ahemed has now scored in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its three-game MAAC road stretch on Tuesday night when team travels to play at Siena in Albany, N.Y. Game time in MVP Arena (formerly the Times Union Center) 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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