Canisius starts the final month of the regular-season on the road tonight when the Golden Griffins travel to play at Siena. After ripping off seven-straight wins through December and early January, the Griffs have lost five of their last eight outings.
Canisius wraps up the regular-season series with Siena tonight in Times Union Center. The Golden Griffins won the first meeting in Buffalo back on Jan. 2 by a score of 82-79. The Griffs are 13-10 overall and 6-6 in MAAC play after falling to Rider 72-66 Jan. 30 at home. Canisius is .500 or better in MAAC play through a dozen league games for the seventh time since 2000-01. The Griffs come into tonight’s game with seven road wins this season, which is tied for second most in the conference. Canisius leads the MAAC and ranks fifth nationally in assists per game average this season at 18.0 assists per contest. Junior Jermaine Crumpton scored a game-high 20 points in the loss to Rider Jan. 30 – his third 20-plus point effort in the team’s last four contests. Junior Kassius Robertson ranks third in the MAAC in scoring at 17.7 points per game. He leads the MAAC with 3.2 3-point field goal makes per game.
This will be the 98th all-time meeting between these two schools, with Siena holding a 53-44 lead in the series. The Griffs scored an 82-79 win over Siena back on Jan. 2 in Buffalo. That was the 22nd time in series history where the game was decided by five-points or less, with Siena leading that portion of the series 12-10. Canisius is 5-19 all-time against Siena, including MAAC Tournament games. The Griffs’ 92-88 triple overtime win over the Saints in the 2013-14 season ended the Blue and Gold’s nine-game losing streak to Siena at Times Union Center.
Siena comes into tonight’s game with a 10-13 overall record and a 7-5 mark in MAAC play after the Saints defeated Quinnipiac 84-75 Jan. 30 on the road. The Saints have won two of their last four and six of their last eight since dropping a pair of road games at Canisius and Niagara to start the month of January. As a team, Siena is averaging 71.9 points per game, which ranks eighth in the MAAC. Defensively, Siena ranks third in the MAAC in scoring defense at 73.2 points allowed per contest. Senior Marquis Wright leads the team and ranks 14th in the conference in scoring average at 14.4 points per game. He also ranks fourth in the MAAC with his 4.6 assists per contest. Senior forward Brett Bisping chips in 13.0 points per game, which ranks third on the team, and his 9.7 rebounds per game ranks second-best in the MAAC.
Canisius comes into tonight’s game at Siena with a 6-6 MAAC mark through the first 12 league games of the season. This marks the seventh time since 2000-01 where Canisius is .500 or better in MAAC action through the first dozen league games of the year.
The Griffs will travel to Jersey City, New Jersey to meet the Saint Peter’s Peacocks Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on MAAC.tv, with the live audio call will be available on Timeless WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM in Buffalo and through GoGriffs.com.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
