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Canisius University Athletics

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Jacco Fritz Feb. 17, 2023 vs Rider
Dave Schofield '71
81
Winner Canisius Canis 7-18,5-11 MAAC
78
Rider Rider 14-10,11-4 MAAC
Winner
Canisius Canis
7-18,5-11 MAAC
81
Final
78
Rider Rider
14-10,11-4 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 40 41 81
Rider Rider 49 29 78

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Storms Back to Score a Win at Rider

Canisius redshirt-freshman Tahj Staveskie scored a team-high 21 points and senior Jacco Fritz added a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds, as the Golden Griffins erased a 13-point deficit to earn an 81-78 road win at Rider Friday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.
 
The win, Canisius' second straight, improved the Blue and Gold to 7-18 overall and 5-11 in MAAC action, while the Broncs saw their record fall to 14-10 overall and 11-4 in league action. Canisius' victory on Friday snapped the Broncs' eight-game win streak, which was the fifth-longest win active win streak in the nation entering the game.
 
Rider came out of the gates red-hot, making 11 of its first 13 field goal tries, and a pair of makes from the free-throw line by reserve guard Corey McKeithan with 6:15 left in the opening half put Rider up 13 points at 32-19. However, despite shooting 80.0 percent (20-for-25) from the field and 50.0 percent (3-for-6) from 3-point land in the game's first 20 minutes, the Broncs only lead Canisius 49-40 at the halftime break thanks to a 3-point field goal by Canisius sophomore Tre Dinkins with 2.3 seconds left in the opening stanza.
 
In second half, Rider's lead hovered around four points until Fritz hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 13:38 showing on the clock to make the score 57-56 in favor of the home team. Canisius took its first lead of the game at 59-57 with 12:17 remaining after graduate student Jordan Henderson knocked down a triple from the top of the key, and following a forced turnover, Canisius stretched its lead to 61-57 with 10:20 left in regulation time when Henderson scored after earning the steal in the backcourt.
 
The Griffs would push their hold to as many as seven points with 8:00 left in the game, but Rider would not go away, as the Broncs cut the Griffs lead to 72-71 with 2:17 remaining after Dwight Murray Jr., knocked down a 3-pointer off the backboard. But a driving dunk by Fritz, and a made free-throw by Henderson put the Blue and Gold up 77-71 with 50.3 seconds left.
 
Rider was able to take advantage of some missed free-throws by Canisius in the game's closing 30 seconds to whittle the Griffs' lead down to one at 79-78, but a pair of free-throw makes by Staveskie with 2.8 showing on the clock ended the scoring and sealed the win for the Griffs.
 
Staveskie scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half. In fact, Staveskie scored the Griffs' first 14 points of the night. He also dished out five assists to go with four rebounds. In the second half, Fritz scored 15 of his 19 points to help the comeback winning effort. For the game, Fritz went 5-for-6 from the field, 1-for-1 from 3-point range and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. Dinkins added 13 points, with 12 of those coming on the power of four 3-point field goal makes, and graduate student George Maslennikov chipped in eight points and three rebounds to the winning cause for the Blue and Gold. For the game, Canisius shot 53.1 percent from the field, made 12-of-25 shots from 3-point range and connected on 17-of-26 tries from the free-throw line. Both teams turned the ball over nine times on the night, but the Griffs were able to turn Rider's nine turnovers into 15 points, with 11 of those coming off six second-half miscues by the home squad.
 
Murray Jr. scored a game-high 26 points in the losing cause for Rider, which shot 34.5 percent (10-for-29) in the game's second half. Mervin James and Tariq Ingraham added 11 points each for Rider, which ended the night by out-rebounding Canisius by a 29-25 clip for the contest.
   
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 47th all-time meeting between the two schools in a series that Rider leads 40-17.
• Eight of the last 11 games between Canisius and Rider have been decided by three points or fewer.
• The win at Rider's Alumni Gymnasium is just the sixth for Canisius in 25 games played at the facility.
• After shooting 51.6 percent from the field Feb. 12 versus Quinnipiac and a season-high 53.1 percent from the floor in Friday's win, Canisius has now shot 50.0 percent or better in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 26 and Dec. 1, 2019.
• After scoring a season-low three points at Marist Feb. 5, Staveskie is averaging 18.7 points per game in the team's last three ball games.
• Fritz's 19 points allowed him to move past the 700-career point mark, and his eight rebounds made him the first Canisius player to record 500-or more career rebounds since Phil Valenti reached the milestone in 2016-17.
• Henderson's two 3-point makes in the game gives him multiple 3-point field goals in 47 career contests.
• Friday was the 125th career game as a Griff for Henderson, making him just the fifth player in program history to play 125-or more career games in Canisius Blue and Gold.
 
UP NEXT
The Griffs will play their final regular-season road game on Sunday afternoon when the team travels to play at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. Game time is set for 2 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The audio call will be available exclusively through GoGriffs.com.
 
For the most up-to-date information on Canisius men's basketball, follow @Griffs_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
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