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Youri Fritz grabs a rebound in a game against St. Bonaventure on Nov. 11, 2023.
Craig Melvin
70
Winner Canisius Canis 1-1,0-0 MAAC
67
St. Bonaventure SBU 1-1,0-0 Atlantic 10
Winner
Canisius Canis
1-1,0-0 MAAC
70
Final
67
St. Bonaventure SBU
1-1,0-0 Atlantic 10
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Canisius Canis 30 40 70
St. Bonaventure SBU 37 30 67

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Lucky Sevens – Men’s Basketball Scores Road win at St. Bonaventure

Trailing by seven points at halftime, the Canisius men's basketball team used a 27-6 run in the first 7:07 of the second half to take a 14-point lead, and then the Golden Griffins held off a late St. Bonaventure charge, to post a 70-67 road win over the Bonnies Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center in Olean, N.Y.
 
The win, Canisius' first of the season, marks just the seventh time the Griffs have defeated St. Bonaventure on the floor inside the Reilly Center, dating back to the 1966-67 season. The Bonnies fell to 1-1 on the year with the loss, as Canisius has now defeated its long-time rival in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 campaigns.
 
Four Canisius players scored in double-figures in the victory, led by junior Tre Dinkins, who scored a game-high 16 points after he went 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point land. Senior Siem Uijtendaal added 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, while junior Frank Mitchell recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds He also added four assists. Junior TJ Gadsden was good for 11 points and four boards as well in the win, as Canisius ended the game by shooting 50 percent (27-for-54) from the field and 50 percent (12-for-24) from 3-point range.
 
Four St. Bonaventure players scored in double-figures as well, led by Charles Pride, who posted 16 points. Chad Venning added 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks to the Bonnies' effort, as the home shot 40.4 percent from the field and just 20 percent (4-for-20) from behind the arc.
 
GAME RECAP
In the later stages of the first half, St. Bonaventure used an 8-0 run to take a nine-point lead at 31-22 with 5:14 left before intermission. The Bonnies' first-half lead never dipped below six points in the remainder of the first half, and the home team went into the locker room at the break up 37-30. In the first half, Canisius was able to hang around thanks to the shooting performance of Dinkins, who had 13 first-half points on a 5-for-9 effort from the floor, with three of those five field goals coming from 3-point land.
 
Out of the halftime intermission, the two teams traded buckets early and the Bonnies pushed their lead back to nine points at 41-32 with 18:58 left in the game following a pair of makes from the free-throw line by Mika Adams-Woods. From there, Canisius took over, outscoring St. Bonaventure by a 25-2 count over the game's next 5:53. In that run, Mitchell and Uijtendaal each scored seven points for the Griffs, and that run was capped by a 3-pointer from Uijtendaal off a pass from sophomore Tahj Staveskie, one his game-high six assists on the night.
 
For the better part of the game's next six minutes, Canisius' lead remained up double-digits until the Bonnies made the score 62-54 with 6:20 left to play. The Griffs stretched their lead back to 11 points at 65-54 moments later after Gadsden stripped a 3-pointer with 5:12 remaining in the contest. The Bonnies mounted a charge late and cut the Griffs' cushion to just four points at 69-65 with 1:01 left to play, but a late free-throw make by Uijtendaal with 8.9 seconds left on the game clock sealed the win for the Blue and Gold, the program's first win at the Reilly Center since the 2016-17 campaign.
 
HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERPSPOON'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
GAME NOTES
• Saturday was the 171st all-time meeting in this series, which dates back to the 1919-20 season. St. Bonaventure leads the series 102-69.
• Head coach Reggie Witherspoon is just the third coach in program history to win multiple times in the Reilly Center. He joins former head coaches John Beilein (two wins) and Mike MacDonald (three wins) in that group.
• In the last two games against St. Bonaventure, the Griffs have made a total of 23 3-point field goals, with 12 of those coming on Saturday.
• Canisius improved to 72-42 since the start of the 2016-17 season when scoring 70-or more points.
• Despite having just five offensive rebounds in the win, St. Bonaventure held a 6-5 advantage over the Griffs in second-chance points.
• Including his team-high 17 points at Syracuse on Wednesday, Dinkins has now scored in double-figures in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 22 and Jan. 29 of last season.
• Mitchell is the first Canisius player to record a double-double within the first five games of his career since former Griff Jacco Fritz had a double-double against St. Bonaventure at KeyBank Center on Nov. 23, 2019.
• Sophomore Youri Fritz had eight points, six rebounds and his first two career blocked shots in the winning effort for Canisius. In his first two games of the season, he has 12 total points. Last year, he scored a total of 21 points in 10 games before being sidelined with an injury.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its three-game road swing to start the year on Wednesday, Nov. 15, when the team plays at Cleveland State. Tip-off in Cleveland, Ohio is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The audio call can be found on GoGriffs.com and the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network, with the M&T Bank Pregame Show starting at 6:40 p.m.
 
SUPPORT YOUR GRIFFS
Support the Canisius men's basketball teams in conjunction with the "More Than A Game" campaign. Your donation to the Canisius basketball program helps our student-athletes continue to be champions in the community, in the classroom and in competition. To donate, CLICK HERE.
 
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