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Canisius University Athletics

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Xzavier Long Dunk vs Niagara March 4, 2023
www.tomwolf.smugmug.com
68
Niagara Niag 15-14,10-10 MAAC
81
Winner Canisius Canis 10-19,8-12 MAAC
Niagara Niag
15-14,10-10 MAAC
68
Final
81
Canisius Canis
10-19,8-12 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Niagara Niag 20 48 68
Canisius Canis 37 44 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Scores Win Over Niagara on Senior Day

Redshirt-freshman Tahj Staveskie scored a team-high 24 points, graduate student Jordan Henderson was good for 17 points and junior Siem Uijtendaal added 13 points and three steals to help lead the Canisius Golden Griffins to an 81-68 victory over long-time rival Niagara Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center on Canisius' Senior Day.
 
The win, Canisius' fifth in its last six outings, improved the Blue and Gold to 10-19 overall and 8-12 in MAAC action, while Niagara fell to 15-14 overall and 10-10 in league play with its second-straight defeat.
 
Niagara senior Noah Thomasson led all scorers on the day with a game-high 35 points, the most points for a visiting player at the Koessler Athletic Center since VMI's DJ Covington scored 37 points against Canisius on March 14, 2014, in the first round of the CIT. Thomasson' 35 points came after he went 15-for-26 from the field, 2-for-5 from 3-point land and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds and two assists for the Purple Eagles, who saw their three-game win streak over the Griffs come to an end with the loss.
 
For the third-straight game, Canisius never trailed, as the Blue and Gold jumped out to an early five-point lead at 11-6 on a made 3-pointer by Staveskie. Niagara eventually tied the game at 12-12 with 11:42 left in the opening half, but Canisius took control of the day moments later thanks to an 18-3 run over the span of 7:06 that gave the home team a 30-15 lead with 4:36 left in the opening stanza. In that run, which was capped by a 3-pointer by Staveskie, Uijtendaal scored seven of the Griffs' points. Canisius went into the locker room up 17 at the break after Uijtendaal hit a jumper from just inside the free-throw line with 6.8 seconds left in the first half.
 
In the second, Canisius' lead never dipped below eight points. A pull-up jumper by Thomasson with 3:06 left on the clock cut the Griffs' cushion to eight points at 72-64, but the Blue and Gold scored on their next two possessions to drive the lead back to a dozen points at 76-64 with 1:52 left to play. The Griffs closed the game out by shooting 65.2 percent (15-for-23) from the field after halftime, with Staveskie and Henderson combining to make 11-of-13 field goal attempts down the stretch.
 
Canisius sophomore Tre Dinkins came off the bench to score eight points, while fellow sophomore Xzavier Long added seven points. Senior Jacco Fritz chipped in four points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in the victory, as Canisius turned 15 Niagara turnovers into 18 points on the day.
   
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the 191st all-time meeting between the two schools. Niagara leads the series, which dates back to 1904-05, by a 106-85 count.
• Canisius has now won five-straight Senior Day games at the Koessler Athletic Center, dating back to the 2017-18 campaign. The Griffs did not have a Senior Day during the 2020-21 COIVD-shortened season.
• The Griffs' current three-game win streak is the team's longest of the season.
• Canisius shot 53.7 percent (29-for-54) from the field in the victory, the fifth time in the team's last six outings where the Blue and Gold shot better than 50.0 percent from the floor.
• Staveskie's 24-point effort on Saturday was his third 20-plus point performance of the season. That stands as the most for 20-plus point games for a Canisius freshman or redshirt-freshman since Takal Molson had five 20-plus point games in 2017-18.
• Henderson's 17 points moves him to 1,183 career points, which ranks 24th in school history. He also had two 3-pointers on the day, the 50th time in his career he knocked down multiple 3-point field goals in a game.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will next play on Tuesday, March 7, at 5 p.m., when the team takes on No. 8 seed Mount St. Mary's in the first round of the 2023 Hercules Tires MAAC Men's Basketball Championship tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, and the audio call will be available exclusively on 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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