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Tre Dinkins looks over the Mount St. mary's defense in the first half of a home game March 1, 2024 in Buffalo, N.Y.
Anthony Militello
56
Mount St. Mary's MSM 12-17,8-10 MAAC
61
Winner Canisius Canis 12-15,7-10 MAAC
Mount St. Mary's MSM
12-17,8-10 MAAC
56
Final
61
Canisius Canis
12-15,7-10 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Mount St. Mary's MSM 27 29 56
Canisius Canis 32 29 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Late Surge Leads Men’s Basketball to Win Over Mount St. Mary’s

Trailing by three points with 4:58 left to play in regulation time, Canisius outscored visiting Mount St. Mary's 10-2 over the final 4:28 of the contest to secure a 61-56 victory in MAAC men's basketball action Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center in downtown Buffalo.
 
The win, Canisius' third straight and fourth in its last five games, improved the Golden Griffins to 12-15 overall and 7-10 in MAAC play, while the Mountaineers fell to 12-17 overall and 8-10 in league action with the loss.
 
Three Griffs scored in double-figures in the win, led by sophomore Devean Wiliams, who poured in a career-high 20 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Junior Tre Dinkins scored 16 points and dished out a game-high six assists for the Blue and Gold, while fellow junior Frank Mitchell was good for a double-double effort after he posted 13 points to go with a game-high 14 rebounds. As a team, Canisius registered 15 assists on 26-made field goals, while turning the ball over just seven times.
 
For Mount St. Mary's, senior Dakota Leffew posted a team-high 17 points and teammate Joshua Reaves added 11 points. All eight Mount St. Mary's players who saw time in the game scored at least two points, but the Mountaineers ended the game by shooting 40.4 percent from the field, with six of the team's 23-made field goals coming from 3-point land.
 
GAME RECAP
Canisius led the entire game until the 8:47 mark of the second half, when Leffew capped a 9-0 Mount St. Mary's run with a 3-pointer from the right corner that gave the Mountaineers a 51-48 lead. That advantage was short-lived, however, as out of a Canisius timeout, Williams knotted the game up at 51-51 with a 3-pointer of his own, one of four makes from behind the arc on the night for the Los Angeles, Calif., native. The game would remain tied at 51-51 for the next 3:28 until Leffew drilled another 3-ball from the wing that put the visiting team up 54-51 with 4:58 left to play.
 
Canisius answered on its next trip down the floor, as Mitchell scored a lay-up off a pass from Williams, and after a Canisius defensive stop, Dinkins gave the Griffs the lead for good with 3:32 left to play after he hit a fade-away jumper in the lane as the shot-clock expired, making the score 55-54 in favor of the Blue and Gold. Leading 57-56 moments later, Mitchell found teammate Youri Fritz in the paint for a dunk that pushed the Griffs' lead to three at 59-56.
 
On its ensuing possession, Mount St. Mary's missed four 3-point shots in the span of 15 seconds that could have tied the game, and after Canisius finally grabbed a defensive rebound, the Griffs came up empty on their next possession. Mount St. Mary's, however, turned the ball over with a bad pass with 18 seconds remaining, giving the ball back to the Griffs. With four fouls to give before the Griffs got into the 1-and-1 bonus, Mount St. Mary's was unable to get the ball back, and finally, junior TJ Gadsden hit a pair at the free-throw line with 5.7 seconds remaining the seal the win for the home team.
 
HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERPSPOON'S POSTGAME COMMENTS  
GAME NOTES
• Friday was the sixth all-time meeting between Canisius and Mount St. Mary's and the victory serves as the Griffs' first in series history.
• All six games in this series have been decided by five points or less.
• The game on Friday was the first time Mount St. Mary's played at the Koessler Athletic Center. Last year's MAAC game on Jan. 2, 2023 was moved to Niagara's Gallagher Center after the 2022 Christmas Blizzard that hit Buffalo. Mount St. Mary's is the 69th different NCAA Division I team to play at the Griffs' on-campus home.
• Canisius has now held each of its last two opponents under 60 points scored for the game. This marks the first time the Griffs have held back-to-back opponents to 60-or fewer points since Feb. 24 and Feb. 26, 2023, when the Blue and Gold held Saint Peter's (53) and Fairfield (51) under the 60-point threshold.
• The win improved Canisius to 16-5 all-time under eighth-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points.
• The Griffs held an 11-point lead in the first half, the sixth-straight game where the team has held a lead of 10-or more points
• Williams is averaging 9.6 points per game since joining the starting line-up Feb. 10. He also extended his streak of recording a steal in a game to eight straight.
• Dinkins has now scored in double-figures in five-straight games and in 22 of the Griffs' 27 games this season.
• Mitchell, who leads the MAAC with 13 double-doubles this season, has grabbed 14-or more rebounds in 10 games, with nine of those occasions coming against MAAC rivals.
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out the home portion of the 2023-24 slate on Sunday, when the team plays host to Rider at the Koessler Athletic Center on Senior Day. Game time is set for 1 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The Griffs' radio call can be heard for free through the Golden Griffin Broadcast Network on GoGriffs.com and the Varsity Network app, with the M&T Bank Pregame Show set to start at 12:40 p.m.
 
Tickets for the Griffs' final home game can be purchased online by visiting GoGriffs.com/Tickets or by phone by calling (716) 888-TIXX.
 
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