BUFFALO - The Marist
men's basketball team (7-10, 2-4 MAAC) fell Friday night to the host Canisius
Golden Griffins (4-12, 1-5 MAAC) at the Koessler Athletic Center by a score of
67-57. A 12-point halftime deficit proved too much for the Red Foxes, who were
led by a trio of players with 11 points.
The game began with a significant Canisius feel as they
sprung out to an early 5-0 lead. This wasn't for long as freshman Isaiah Morton
(Richland, N.J.) spearheaded an 11-0 run with seven individual points. The
see-saw action continued as the Golden Griffins ran off 10 consecutive points
of their own to make the score 15-13 with 10:27 to play in the first half.
With this new-found momentum, the host Golden Griffins
unleashed a flurry of three-pointers down the stretch of the first half to the
tune of 6 of 12 shooting. Marist was only able to score 10 points in comparison
to 20 for Canisius over the final 10:27 of the period.
At the break, Canisius went into the locker room with a
35-23 lead on the strength of its hot shooting from long distance. The Golden
Griffins hit seven of its 16 shots (43.8) from three-point territory. Overall,
Canisius led in field goal percentage, 46.7 (14-30) to 32.0 (8-25), while
Marist converted 75.0 of its free throws versus zero attempts for the Golden
Griffins.
Coming out in the second half, red-shirt sophomore Anell
Alexis (Hillsborough, N.J.) led the team's early offensive efforts as he netted
Marist's first four points and six of nine over the first 4:23. Unfortunately
for the Red Foxes, Canisius' success from long distance carried over into the
second half, as they started out hitting three of their first five attempts.
This hot shooting and strong offensive rebound numbers saw
the Golden Griffins twice mount a 20-point lead within the first 10:17 of the
second period.
Faced with a 63-45 deficit and 6:19 to go, Marist fought
back and closed the game on a 12-4 run, including a 4:19 period of play where
they held Canisius scoreless. The comeback though was a little too late and
not quite enough as the final buzzer sounded with the Golden Griffins
victorious 67-57.
The Red Foxes were able to hold Canisius to 36.1 percent (13-36)
shooting in the second half, but the host's hot first half shooting gave them
the overall field goal percentage advantage at 40.9 to 37.3. Canisius also held
the three point shooting percentage category at 37.9 (11-29) to 26.3 (5-19).
Individually, Morton, Alexis and freshman Chavaughn Lewis
(Queens, N.Y.) all shared the top spot amongst Red Fox scorers with 11 points
each. Sophomore Adam Kemp (Sherrill, N.Y.) led Marist with seven rebounds.
Marist will conclude its Western New York road trip on
Sunday with a 2 p.m. tip-off versus Niagara.
