The Canisius Golden Griffins open MAAC play tonight when the team takes on Manhattan in Riverdale, New York.
The Griffs are coming off a 90-84 win at Youngstown State Nov. 26. The win, the team’s second-straight road victory, also stands as the 200th career victory for first-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon. Canisius’ 90 points at Youngstown State are a season-high. Dating back to last season, the Griffs are 6-1 when scoring 90-plus points in a game. Both of Canisius’ wins this season have come on the road. Prior to this season, the last time the Griffs won back-to-back non-league road games was Nov. 21 and Nov. 24, 2009. Junior guard Kassius Robertson scored a game-high 27 points in the win at Youngstown State, which was one point shy of tying his career-high. Canisius senior forward Phil Valenti posted his first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career in the win at Youngstown State after he scored 11 points while matching a career-high with 11 rebounds.
Tonight’s game will be the 89th all-time meeting between these two conference rivals, with Manhattan leading the series 54-34. The Griffs snapped Manhattan’s six-game win streak in the series last season when the Blue and Gold went on the road and defeated the Jaspers 65-62 in Draddy Gymnasium. Canisius has struggled to get wins in this series in games played in the Draddy Gymnasium. The Griffs are 7-23 all-time in Manhattan’s building, with just two of those wins coming since the 2010-11 season.
Manhattan is 2-4 on the season after the team went on the road and lost at nationally-ranked West Virginia by the score of 108-61. In that loss to the Mountaineers, Manhattan has charged with a school-record 40 turnovers. Junior Zavier Turner leads the Jaspers’ offense with his 17 points per game, which ranks sixth-best in the MAAC. Junior Zane Waterman ranks second on the team with 10.8 points per game to go along with a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the league. As a team, Manhattan is averaging 72.8 points per game, while allowing 85.8 points per game. The 85.8 points per game allowed ranks 11th in the MAAC and 338th nationally.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
