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Tahj Staveskie taking a shot on Feb. 10, 2023 vs Iona inside the Koessler Athletic Center.
Ken Morey
80
Winner Iona Iona 17-7,10-3 MAAC
59
Canisius Canis 5-18,3-11 MAAC
Winner
Iona Iona
17-7,10-3 MAAC
80
Final
59
Canisius Canis
5-18,3-11 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Iona Iona 40 40 80
Canisius Canis 33 26 59

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Falls to Iona

Iona shot 64.7 percent from the field and made 46.7 percent of its shots from 3-point land, as the visiting Gaels took down Canisius 80-59 in MAAC men's basketball action Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center. The win, Iona's fourth straight, improved the Gaels to 17-7 overall and 10-3 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins fell to 5-18 overall and 3-11 in league action with the defeat.
 
Iona guard Walter Clayton Jr., was one of three Iona players with double-figures in the scoring column after he posted a team-high 19 points. Osborn Shema was good for 16 points and six rebounds, while Nelly Junior Joseph chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort. Berrick JeanLouis added eight points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals to Iona's cause, as the Gaels extended their win streak over the Griffs to nine straight, dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
 
For Canisius, redshirt-freshman Tahj Staveskie scored a career-high 26 points after he went 9-for-16 from the floor, 3-for-5 from 3-point land and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line in 36 minutes of action. The Sandusky, Ohio, native also grabbed four rebounds to go with three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. Graduate student Jamir Moultrie added 11 points off the bench and sophomore Xzavier Long scored nine points to go with six boards, as the Griffs shot 37.7 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from 3-point land and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line in the losing effort.

Iona raced out to an early 10-0 lead just 5:16 into the contest with Junior Joseph and Clayton Jr., accounting for all 10 of those points. From there, Staveskie got hot for the Blue and Gold, scoring 11 of the Griffs' first 13 points in the span of 3:02 to give the home team a 13-10 lead with 12:50 remaining in the opening stanza. With the game knotted at 15-15 midway through the first half, Iona scored the contest's next nine points to take a 24-15 lead with 9:25 remaining before halftime.
 
The Gaels led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but a 6-0 scoring surge right before intermission sent the teams into the locker room with Iona leading 40-33. Canisius scored four of the first six points in the second half to trim the Gaels' cushion to 42-37 with 17:54 left to play, but Iona put its foot down with an 11-0 run over the game's next 3:02 to make the score 53-37 in favor of the visiting team. Iona shot 69.6 percent (16-for-23) from the field in the game's final 20 minutes, with three of those 16 field goals coming from behind the 3-point arc.
   
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 82nd all-time meeting between Canisius and Iona, with the Gaels leading the series 49-33.
• The Griffs were credited with eight steals in the game, the most for the team since the Blue and Gold recorded 10 steals at Manhattan Jan. 6.
• Staveskie's 26-point performance stands as the most points for a Canisius player in his first year with the program since former Griff Malcolm McMillian scored 33 points at Hofstra in the 2015-16 season-opener.
• Moultrie's 11 points gives him double-digits in the scoring column in 14 games this season and 32 times in his college career.
• Graduate student Jordan Henderson was good for a team-high five assists on the night, his eighth career game with five-or more assists to his credit.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its MAAC homestand on Sunday when the Griffs play host to Quinnipiac, with game time set for 1 p.m., at the Koessler Athletic Center. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the audio call can be found exclusively at GoGriffs.com. Tickets for Sunday's game, and all remaining home men's basketball games, can be purchased at the box offince on the day of the game, or online by CLICKING HERE.
 
For the most up-to-date information on Canisius men's basketball, follow @Griffs_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
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