Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Canisius University Athletics

#Griffs The Official Home of the Canisius University Golden Griffins | #Griffs
Members of the Canisius men's basketball team huddle up after a foul call in a game against Mount St. Mary's on March 1, 2024.
Anthony Militello
65
Winner Rider Rider 14-16,11-8 MAAC
61
Canisius Canis 12-16,7-11 MAAC
Winner
Rider Rider
14-16,11-8 MAAC
65
Final
61
Canisius Canis
12-16,7-11 MAAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Rider Rider 34 31 65
Canisius Canis 28 33 61

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Men’s Basketball Drops Final Home Game to Rider

The visiting Rider Broncs used an 11-2 run midway through the second half to pull away from Canisius and earn a 65-61 victory over the Golden Griffins in MAAC men's basketball action Sunday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center.
 
The win, Rider's sixth straight, improved the Broncs to 14-16 overall and 11-8 in league play, while Canisius' three-game win streak came to an end with the home loss on Senior Day. The Griffs are now 12-16 overall and 7-11 in conference action.
 
Rider's Mervin James, the MAAC's leading scorer, posted a game-high 20 points to lead the attack for the Broncs, who ended the day by shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 50.0 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range. T.J. Weeks Jr., added 17 points and seven rebounds to Rider's wining cause, and Allen Powell chipped in 11 points for Rider.
 
For Canisius, junior TJ Gadsden scored a game-high 16 points in the loss. He also grabbed seven rebounds to go along with a season-high three blocked shots. Sophomore Devean Williams scored 14 points and dished out four assists, while junior Tre Dinkins added 11 points and four assists, as well. Junior Frank Mitchell, the MAAC's top rebounder, grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, as the Griffs out-rebounded the Broncs for the game by a 29-27 clip.
 
GAME RECAP
Rider shot 50.0 percent from the field and made 2-of-4 3-pointers in the game's first 20:00, while holding Canisius to a 35.5 percent field goal percentage in the opening half, to take a 34-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Broncs stretched their lead to as many as eight points at 39-31 with 17:56 left to play, but Canisius fought back to tie the game at 47-47 thanks to a 16-8 run over the span of 4:12, with Gadsden accounting for seven of those 16 points for the Blue and Gold. With the game knotted at 47-47, Gadsden went to the basket on a fastbreak and was fouled by Rider on a dunk attempt. After the officials reviewed the play, the foul was upgraded to a flagrant 1 technical foul, giving Gadsden two free-throws and the Griffs the ball. Gadsden made one of the two free-throws to give the Griffs their first lead since the scoreboard read 8-7 in the opening moments of the first half, and then Canisius took a three-point lead seconds later when senior Bryce Okpoh slammed down the in-bounds pass from Dinkins, making the score 50-47 in favor of the home team with 11:07 remaining in the contest.
 
From there, Rider scored the game's next four points to take a 51-50 lead. A jumper by Williams gave the Griffs the lead right back moments later, but five-straight points by Rider, capped by a 3-point field goal from Powell with 6:50 left to play, pushed the Broncs' cushion back to four points at 56-52.
 
In the game's closing 4:00, Rider's lead ballooned to as many as eight points at 63-55, but the Griffs trimmed that lead down to four at 63-59 with 1:04 left to play after a Dinkins make at the free-throw line and Williams drilled a 3-pointer from in front of the Griffs' bench. After the Griffs got a defensive stop, the Blue and Gold had a chance to cut into Rider's lead further, but Canisius turned the ball over with 13.1 seconds to play, sealing the victory for the Broncs.
 
HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERPSPOON'S POSTGAME COMMENTS
   
GAME NOTES
• Sunday was the 59th all-time meeting between these two schools. Rider leads the series 42-17.
• Both of the Canisius – Rider games this season went Rider's way, as the Broncs won those two games by a total of seven points.
• Sunday marked the 24th time in series history where the final score between the Griffs and the Broncs has been decided by five points-or less. Rider leads that portion of the series 17-7.
• Canisius closed the home portion of its 2023-24 schedule with an 8-4 record. This marks the fifth-straight season where the team finished .500 or better at home.
• Gadsden has now scored in double-figures in two of the team's last three games. His 16-point effort Sunday serves as his most points in a game this season since Dec. 6, when he also scored 16 points in the home win over Robert Morris.
• Dinkins extended his streak of scoring 10-or more points to six-straight games.
• Dinkins' two makes from 3-point land on Sunday gives him 76 for the season, which ranks seventh on the school's single-season 3-point field goal makes list.
• Williams has now scored in double-figures in three-straight games for the first time in his career. He is averaging 10.3 points per game since Feb. 10 when he joined the starting line-up.
• With his nine rebounds, Mitchell now has 305 rebounds this season, making him the sixth player in program history to record 300-or more rebounds in a season, and the first since Darren Fenn had 315 boards during the 1999-00 campaign.
• Prior to the start of Sunday's game, Canisius honored Joe Jones III, Bryce Okpoh, Siem Uijtendaal, and Davon Ware as part of its Senior Day celebration.  
 
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out the 2023-24 regular season with a pair of road games, starting Thursday, when the team plays at Fairfield. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live to a national-television audience on ESPNU. 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 6:40 p.m.
 
Like Canisius Athletics on Facebook
Follow @GoGriffs and @Griffs_MBB on X
Follow @GoGriffs and @Griffs_MBB on Instagram
 
Print Friendly Version