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Canisius University Athletics

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Paul McMillan IV looks at the shot clock in a game at Arizona on Nov. 4, 2024.
Anthony Militello
71
Canisius Canis 2-20,2-9 MAAC
89
Winner Quinnipiac QU 14-9,10-2 MAAC
Canisius Canis
2-20,2-9 MAAC
71
Final
89
Quinnipiac QU
14-9,10-2 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 39 32 71
Quinnipiac QU 42 47 89

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Quinnipiac Proves to Be Too Much for Men’s Basketball

Quinnipiac forward Amarri Monroe recorded a double-double with game-high 29 points and 10 rebounds to help lead the host Bobcats to an 89-71 win over Canisius in MAAC men's basketball action Thursday night at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Conn.
 
The win, Quinnipiac's sixth-straight home win since Dec. 29, improved the Bobcats to 14-9 overall and 10-2 in league play, while the Golden Griffins fell to 2-20 overall and 2-9 in conference action.
 
Four Canisius players recorded double-figures in the scoring column in the loss, led by junior Paul McMillan IV, who had a team-high 23 points on the night. Senior Tana Kopa had 19 points, highlighted by five makes from 3-point land, while sophomore Dylan Godfrey added 10 points, three assists and two steals. Redshirt-sophomore Cam Palesse chipped in 10 points, as the Griffs ended the night by shooting 51.0 percent from the field, 39.1 percent (9-for-23) from 3-point range and 833 percent from the free-throw line.
 
Monore's 29 points came after he shot 10-for-17 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers, while also going 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Jaden Zimmerman was good for 14 points off the bench, while Paul Otieno and Alexis Reyes added 12 points each. For the game, the Bobcats shot 55.0 percent from the floor, made 8-of-22 tries from behind the arc and knocked down 15-of-16 shots from the free-throw line. Quinnipiac also controlled the rebounding battle, as the Bobcats out-rebounded the Griffs by a 32-13 clip.
 
Trailing 36-27 with 4:11 left in the first half, Canisius trimmed the Quinnipiac lead to just one at 38-37 thanks to a 10-2 run over the span of 1:52, with McMillan IV scoring seven of the Blue and Gold's 10 points during the surge. Quinnipiac was able to push its lead back to five points at 42-37 in the closing stages of the opening stanza, but a bucket by Godfrey in transition with 31 seconds left before the break sent the Griffs into the locker room down three at 42-39 after 20 minutes of play.
 
Monroe helped the Bobcats pull away from Canisius in the opening moments after intermission, as he scored the first five points out of halftime to make the score 47-39 just 31 seconds into the second half. A basket by Reyes off a Canisius turnover with 16:50 left in the game, one of the Griffs' 10 second-half giveaways, put Quinnipiac up by 11, its first double-digit lead of the night, and a 3-pointer from the corner by Zimmer moments later pushed the Bobcats' lead to 62-45 with 14:41 left to play.
 
Kopa had three assists and three steals, while Palesse added two assists and a blocked shot in the loss. Quinnipiac's Savion Lewis, the league's leader in assists per game, was credited with a game-high eight assists in the win for the Bobcats, as the home team ended the night with 23 assists on 33 made field goals.
 
HEAD COACH JIM CHRISTIAN'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
   
GAME NOTES
• Thursday was the 25th all-time meeting between the Griffs and the Bobcats, and the Griffs lead the series 15-10. Quinnipiac has now won the last three meetings between the two schools.
• Thursday's game is the only meeting between Canisius and Quinnipiac this season. The Bobcats do not travel to Buffalo in the 2024-25 campaign with the MAAC's 13-team, unbalanced schedule format.
• McMillan IV leads the league with 14 games of 20-or more points scored.
• Kopa has now hit five-or more 3-pointers in a game six times this season. He is the 11th player in school history to make 70-or more 3-pointers in a single-season.
• Sophomore Anthony Benard recorded three steals in the game for the Griffs, his 10th game this season where he registered multiple steals.
• Junior Gianni Thompson made his first career start in his 51st career college basketball game.
• Freshman Trevor Augustine made his first career appearance as a Griff. Augustine, a native of Grand Island, N.Y., recently joined the team as a walk-on.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will return to action Saturday when the Griffs travel to play at Merrimack. Game time in North Andover, Mass., is scheduled for 3 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Griffs' radio call will be available through the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network on GoGriffs.com and the Varsity Network APP.
 
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