For the second time in five days, the Canisius Golden Griffins will step on the court to face off with the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, as the two Jesuit schools matchup tonight in the MAAC Basketball Championship quarterfinal round. Canisius, the tournament’s seventh seed, earned a spot in this game following a 77-73 win over Marist last night. Saint Peter’s, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, earned a first-round bye.
Canisius returns to the court tonight to play No. 2 seed Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 MAAC Basketball Championship. The Golden Griffins advanced to this game tonight after defeating Marist 77-73 last night in the tournament’s first round. Canisius is now 13-4 all-time in MAAC Championship first round games. Canisius and Saint Peter’s are meeting for the second time in five days – the Peacocks defeated the Griffs 72-65 in Buffalo Feb. 26. Senior Phil Valenti led the Blue and Gold with 23 points last night. He comes into this game averaging 13.7 points per game in six career MAAC Tournament contests. Junior Kassius Robertson, an All-MAAC Second-Team honoree, had two 3-pointers last night vs. Marist. His 94 makes from 3-point land are the most for any player in the MAAC this year. Junior Jermaine Crumpton comes into tonight’s game two points shy of becoming the school’s 37th 1,000 point scorer.
Saint Peter’s comes into tonight’s game as the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Peacocks have won six straight and start tonight with an overall record of 18-12. Saint Peter’s last loss came back on Feb. 6, when Canisius scored a 72-70 win in the Yanitelli Center. Senior Quadir Welton earned All-MAAC First-Team honors after he led the team with 11.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
This will be the 78th all-time meeting between these two Jesuit schools, with Canisius holding a 43-34 lead in the series. Canisius’ 72-70 win at Saint Peter’s Feb. 6 marked the 31st time in the series history where the two teams played a game decided by five-points or less. The Peacocks have won 16 of those 31 contests. The Griffs and Peacocks are meeting in the MAAC Tournament for the fifth time tonight, with each team claiming two wins. This will be the first postseason meeting between the schools since 2007.
This game tonight against Saint Peter’s will be Canisius’ 52nd MAAC Tournament game. The Griffs are 25-26 all-time in this event. Canisius earned the No. 7 seed in this year’s tournament after going 10-10 in MAAC play during the regular season. The Griffs have been the No. 7 seed in the MAAC Tournament five times previously, including last year’s event. Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon is the fourth head coach in program history to win his first career MAAC Tournament game as the Griffs’ bench boss. The win over Marist last night improved Canisius to 13-4 all-time in MAAC Tournament first round games. The Griffs are now 7-4 all-time in the MAAC Tournament as the No. 7 seed.
Canisius had three players earn All-MAAC honors when the conference office announced the conference’s all-stars units on Monday. Junior Kassius Robertson was named All-MAAC Second Team after he led the Griffs in scoring average, and finished the regular season as the league-leader in 3-point field goal makes per game with 3.0 per contest. Junior Jermaine Crumpton earned All-MAAC Third-Team accolades after he closed out the regular season ranked in the top-10 in the league in scoring average, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage. Freshman guard Malik Johnson was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team, making him just the ninth Canisius newcomer to earn all-rookie honors since the school joined the league in 1989-90. Johnson ranks fifth in the MAAC in assists per game and second in assist-to-turnover ratio. This season marks the first time Canisius has had three players earn all-league honors in the same season since 2006-07.
The winner of tonight’s game will advance to the MAAC Basketball Championship semifinal round on Sunday at 7 p.m.
from GoGriffs.com via IFTTT
