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Cam Palesse takes a jump shot in the second half of a home game against Marist on Jan. 25, 2025.
Oliveri Photos
51
Canisius Canis 2-21,2-10 MAAC
69
Winner Merrimack Merri 14-10,11-2 MAAC
Canisius Canis
2-21,2-10 MAAC
51
Final
69
Merrimack Merri
14-10,11-2 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 23 28 51
Merrimack Merri 31 38 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Merrimack’s Balanced Attack Downs Men’s Basketball

Four Merrimack players scored in double-figures, led by sophomore guard Budd Clark and his game-high 17 points, as the host Warriors scored a 69-51 win over Canisius in MAAC men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court in North Andover, Mass.
 
With the win, Merrimack improved to 14-10 overall and 11-2 in MAAC play, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 2-21 overall and 2-10 in league action with their fifth-straight loss.
 
Clark scored 14 of his 17 points in the game's second half, with six of those points coming from the free-throw line. Sean Trumper and Tye Dorset each had 12 points in the winning effort for the Warriors, while Bryan Etumnu posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Merrimack ended the day by shooting 49.0 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from 3-point land and 70 percent from the free-throw line in the victory, with 38 of the Warriors' 69 points coming from inside the paint.
 
Canisius junior Paul McMillan IV led the Griffs with his team-high 16 points, as he was the only Canisius player to record double-figures in the scoring column on the day. Redshirt-sophomore Cam Palesse added nine points and four rebounds off the bench, while sophomore Dylan Godfrey was good for eight points, including a pair of makes from behind the 3-point line. Junior Gianni Thompson, who grew up just 40 minutes from Merrimack's campus in Dorchester, Mass., scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for Canisius, which shot 39.2 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from 3-point range and just 41.7 percent (5-for-12) from the free-throw line.
 
Saturday's game started slowly, as the two teams combined for just 19 total points through the opening 10 minutes of the contest. A bucket by sophomore Anthony Benard with 6:58 left in the first half put the Griffs up 17-16, but Merrimack responded with a 7-0 run over the game's next 3:34 to take a 25-17 lead with 2:07 left in the opening stanza. A 3-pointer by Dorsett with less than 10 seconds left in the first half pushed Merrimack's cushion to 11 points, but McMillan IV's jumper from just across mid-court as the horn sounded sent the teams into the locker room with the scoreboard reading 31-23 in favor of the home team.
 
Out of halftime, Godfrey hit 3-pointers on back-to-back Canisius possessions to cut Merrimack's lead to 35-31 with 17:41 left to play, and after a lay-up from Clark, Palesse kept the Griffs with four points after he grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball over the front of the rim to make the score 37-33. That would be as close as the Griffs would get for the remainder of the game, however, as Merrimack scored the game's next 12 points in the span of 3:37 to drive its hold to 14 at 47-33 with 13:40 left on the game clock.
 
HEAD COACH JIM CHRISTIAN'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
   
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the second meeting between these two schools, and it marked the first time the Griffs played the Warriors in North Andover, Mass.
• Saturday's contest served as Canisius' first regular season game in the state of Massachusetts since Dec. 20, 2018, when the Blue and Gold played a non-league game at Holy Cross.
• McMillan IV is the first Griff to score 10-or more points in 23-straight games since former Griff Takal Molson did it between the last four games of 2017-18 and the first 19 contests of the 2018-19 campaign.
• Thompson matched his career high with his six rebounds. He also had six boards against Rhode Island on Feb. 18, 2023, when he was a member of the team at UMass.
• Godfrey is averaging 10.7 points per game in the team's last three outings.
• Palesse accounted for all nine of the Griffs' bench points in the game. He is averaging 12.0 points per game in the last four outings.
• Prior to the game, head coach Jim Christian announced that graduate student Jasman Sangha is out indefinitely with a foot injury.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its three-game MAAC road trip at long-time rival Niagara on Wednesday, Feb. 12. The 195th all-time meeting between the Griffs and the Purple Eagles will tip-off at 6:30 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.
 
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