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Canisius University Athletics

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Dylan Godfrey takes a 3-point shot in a home game against Niagara on Jan. 31, 2025.
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77
Winner Manhattan MC 14-12,9-8 MAAC
72
Canisius Canis 3-25,3-14 MAAC
Winner
Manhattan MC
14-12,9-8 MAAC
77
Final
72
Canisius Canis
3-25,3-14 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Manhattan MC 37 40 77
Canisius Canis 40 32 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Manhattan Pushes Back to Defeat Men’s Basketball

Manhattan freshman Fraser Roxburgh scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the game's second half to help lead the visiting Jaspers to a 77-72 victory over Canisius in MAAC men's basketball action Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
The win snapped Manhattan's two-game losing skid and improved the team to 14-12 overall and 9-8 in league play, while the Golden Griffins fell to 3-25 overall and 3-14 in conference action.
 
Canisius junior Paul McMillan IV and sophomore Dylan Godfrey each scored a game-high 21 points in the loss for Canisius, which shot 48.3 percent from the field in the losing effort, highlighted by a 52 percent effort from the floor in the game's second half. Senior Tana Kopa added 18 points, fueled by four 3-point makes and redshirt-sophomore Cam Palesse grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Blue and Gold.
 
Roxburgh ended the night by going 7-for-10 from the field in the win for the Jaspers, which ended a two-game losing streak in their series with Canisius. He also grabbed five boards, dished out two assists and posted a blocked shot. Will Sydnor had 15 points, all in the first half, and teammate Shaquil Bender added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. For the game, Manhattan out-rebounded Canisius 38-25, with nine of those rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
 
Canisius stormed out of the gate in the game's first 5:35, taking a 16-5 lead after Manhattan scored the game's first three points just 50 seconds into the contest. In that 16-2 run, Kopa accounted for nine of Canisius' points. A traditional 3-point play by McMillan IV with 11:19 remaining in the opening half gave the Griffs their largest lead at 26-9. A 20-3 run over the game's next 6:00 tied the game at 29-29, but Canisius went into the locker room up 40-37 thanks to a pair of late 3-point makes by McMillan IV and Godfrey in the closing 2:50 of the opening stanza.
 
Canisius scored nine of the first 11 points out of intermission to drive its lead back to nine at 49-40, but Roxburgh scored the next seven points for the Jaspers to get the visiting team within three at 51-48 with 12:34 left to play. Moments later, a bucket by Bender put Manhattan up 52-51, giving Manhattan its first lead since the scoreboard read 5-3 in favor of the Jaspers just 1:45 into the ball game.
 
In the game's final 12:12, neither team led by more than five points. Godfrey hit a fade-away jumper from the right block with 2:09 showing on the game clock to tie the game at 70-70, but Manhattan took the lead for good on its next trip down the floor after Devin Dinkins made a free-throw with 1:40 left. That free-throw started a 5-0 run for the Jaspers, who limited the Griffs to just one made field goal in the game's closing 2:00.
 
HEAD COACH JIM CHRISTIAN'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
"I thought we started really strong, both at the beginning of the game and then again to start the second half, but we were unable to maintain a level of consistency and to their credit, Manhattan took advantage of it. We knew coming into the game that Manhattan is a team that has played a bunch of close games, so we were ready to be in a battle until the end. There were a few times late where we had a decent look at the basket, but we did not make the shot, and they went down the floor and scored when we had a lapse defensively."
 
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the 102nd all-time meeting between Canisius and Manhattan, and the Jaspers lead the series, 59-43.
• Canisius made nine 3-point field goals in the game, the fourth consecutive game where the Griffs have hit eight-or more treys as a team.
• The Griffs were charged with seven turnovers in the contest, the third time this year the team had just seven turnovers in a league game.
• McMillan IV's 21-point effort was his 18th of the season. That stand as the most 20-plus point games for a Griff in his first season with the program since Ron Peaks did it 18 times in 1976-77.
• McMillan IV leads Canisius with 567 total points this season. That ranks as the 11th-most points in a single-season by a Canisius player, and it is the most for a Griff since Billy Baron scored 584 points in 2012-13.
• Kopa's four 3-point field goals gives him 85 for the year. He is just the fifth player in program history to make 85-or more 3-pointers in a single-season.
• Godfrey is averaging 19.7 points per game after posting just three points in the team's home loss to Mount St. Mary's back on Feb. 16.
• Sophomore Anthony Benard, who missed multiple days during the week with flu-like symptoms, recorded a game-high three steals off the bench. Benard is the first Griff with 50-or more steals in a season since Malik Johnson in 2019-20.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will play its final game of the 2024-25 campaign at the Koessler Athletic Center on Sunday when the team hosts Iona on Senior Day. Game time is set for 1 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Canisius radio call will be available at GoGriffs.com through the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network, on the Varsity Network APP and on X through the @GoGriffs handle.
 
Tickets for the final home men's basketball game of the season can be purchased online by CLICKING HERE.
 
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