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Canisius University Athletics

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Ahamadou Fofana looks to find an open teammate in a game against Buffalo at KeyBank Center Dec. 18, 2021.
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70
Winner Iona Iona 19-3,11-0 MAAC
62
Canisius Canis 7-16,3-9 MAAC
Winner
Iona Iona
19-3,11-0 MAAC
70
Final
62
Canisius Canis
7-16,3-9 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Iona Iona 40 30 70
Canisius Canis 21 41 62

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Strong Start Leads Iona Past Men’s Basketball

Iona shot 53.3 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes to take a 19-point lead into the locker room at halftime, and the visiting Gaels were able to keep Canisius at arm's length in the second half, as the visiting Gaels recorded a 70-62 win over the Golden Griffins in MAAC men's basketball action Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
Iona sophomore Nelly Junior Joseph scored a game-high 17 points in the win for the Gaels, who improved to 19-3 overall and 11-0 in MAAC play with the road victory. Canisius was led by junior Armon Harried, who scored a team-high 14 points. The Griffs fell to 7-16 overall and 3-9 with the loss, the Blue and Gold's fourth straight.
 
GAME RECAP
Iona came out of the gates on fire and jumped out to an early 13-3 lead just 5:26 into the contest after going 6-for-10 from the floor to start the game. Iona guard Tyson Jolly scored five-straight points for the Gaels in the span of 41 seconds in the later stages of the opening frame to get the Gaels' lead to 19 at 31-12 with 6:06 left before the intermission, and a lay-up by graduate student Dylan van Eyck with 4:52 left in the open half put Iona up by 23 at 35-12. The Gaels went 16-for-30 from the floor in the first half, with four of those field goals coming from 3-point land, and Iona did not turn the ball over at all in the opening 20 minutes en route to taking 40-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
In the second half, Canisius began chipping away at Iona's cushion, getting its deficit to 11 points with 14:31 left to play after senior Jordan Henderson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to make the score 50-39 in favor of the visiting team. A bucket by senior Malek Green with 10:59 left to play got the Griffs within nine points at 52-43. Iona's lead hovered around nine points for the next 3:00 before Canisius junior Akrum Ahemed knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7:44 left that made it an eight-point game at 56-48. Another 3-pointer by Ahemed with 6:17 remaining made the score 59-51 in favor of the Gaels, but Iona's Walter Clayton Jr., cashed in with four-straight free-throws to pushed the Gaels' lead back to 11 at 63-52 with 4:21 left to play.
 
Canisius took one last swing at Iona late, as Harried scored a tough bucket in traffic to make the score 67-60 with 1:05 remaining, but Iona put the game to rest with three free-throws in the final 27 seconds, two of which were made by Clayton Jr., to seal the win for the visiting team.
 
The Griffs ended the night shooting 43.1 percent from the field, but made just 6-of-21 tries from long range and 6-of-14 from the charity stripe in the loss. Iona shot 49.0 percent from the floor, helped by the red-hot first half, and the Gaels ended the night with a 36-30 advantage on the glass. Canisius was able to turn Iona over in the second half, scoring 15 points off 11 Gael miscues.
 
Harried went 6-for-13 from the field and added two rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot to his final stat line. Three Griffs had eight points, including Green, who came off the bench and went 4-for-6 from the floor while grabbing three boards. Senior Ahamadou Fofana also scored eight points to go with five rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots. Junior Jacco Fritz chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and two assists on the night for the Blue and Gold, who saw their five-game home win streak come to an end.
 
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon's Postgame Comments
"I thought we fought hard in the second half. Iona is a really good team and we dug ourselves a hole. They dug a hole for us, too, and we jumped right in it. But in the second half, we fought and clawed and played much better."
 
"In the second half, our thought our intensity was much greater. We just played harder. We moved the ball and played better as a group. I thought defensively we played much harder, too. At halftime, I looked at the stat sheet and thought about it – I'm not sure I have ever coached in a game where our opponent had zero turnovers at halftime. Give credit to them. And at the same token, it's really hard to play a team like this and only have 10 turnovers like we did. If you said to me before the game that we'd have only 10 turnovers, or we'd have less turnovers then them, I would have said we have a pretty good chance to win this game."
 
"We did a few things differently in the second half, but strategy did not make the difference. They guys made the difference. You can't have a team play 20 minutes and not turn the ball over at all. That means they're getting a lot of shots at the basket. They'd have to shoot poorly to even give you a chance to be in the game. We talked about it at halftime. We needed to turn them over. We came out and went at them in the second half, which was encouraging to see."
 
"I'm cautiously encouraged by what I saw in the second half tonight. I always say we'll see how things go tomorrow. What's our energy like tomorrow? And then what's the energy like the next day. And then you can see if you're able to build off the effort we gave tonight in the second half."
 
GAME NOTES
• This was the 79th all-time meeting between these two programs. Iona leads the series 46-33.
• The Gaels have won six straight over the Griffs. Friday was the first meeting between the schools since March 10, 2020.
• Harried has now scored in double figures in four-straight games and in five of the team's last six contests.
• Fritz's seven rebounds were a team-high. He's led the team in rebounding21 times in his career.
• Fofana's three blocked shots set a new career high for the senior guard. In fact, those were the first three blocked shots of his career.
• Freshman Xzavier Long had six points and grabbed five rebounds in the game. He has recorded multiple rebounds in 16 of the last 17 games he has played in.
• Henderson's two 3-pointers on Friday night moved him into 14th place on the school's career 3-point list.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its weekend homestand on Sunday when the Griffs play host to Manhattan at the Koessler Athletic Center. Game time is set for 1 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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