Marist center Patrick Gardner scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds and teammate Isaiah Brickner added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists as the host Red Foxes knocked off Canisius 75-67 in MAAC men’s basketball action Sunday afternoon at the McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The win for Marist ended the Red Foxes’ five-game losing streak and improved the team to 8-14 overall and 4-9 in MAAC play. The Golden Griffins fell to 5-17 overall and 3-10 in league action with their fifth-straight defeat.
For Canisius, graduate student Jordan Henderson scored a team-high 17 points, his fifth-straight game with double figures in the scoring column. Fellow graduate student Jamir Moultrie chipped in 16 points, while senior Jacco Fritz and junior Siem Uijtendaal scored eight points, each. The Griffs shot 37.3 percent (25-for-67) from the field and just 22.6 percent from behind the 3-point arc, connecting on 7-of-31 chances from long range. Fritz grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the losing effort for the Blue and Gold, as the team was out-rebounded by Marist by a 45-31 clip.
Gardner’s 29 points came after he went 9-for-19 from the floor and 11-for-13 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds to go with three assists. Brickner made five field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Javon Cooley scored nine points to go with eight boards. For the game, Marist shot 44.8 percent from the field, with four of its 26 made field goals coming from behind the 3-point line, however, the Red Foxes shot 82.6 percent (19-for-23) from the free-throw line. Entering the game, Marist ranked ninth in the MAAC and 245th in the nation, shooting 69.4 percent from the stripe, as a team.
Canisius led Marist 22-21 with 5:58 left before halftime after Uijtendaal hit a 3-pointer from the right wing. That would end up being the Griffs’ final lead of the contest, however, as Marist used a 12-4 run over the final 5:33 of the opening half to take a 33-26 lead into the locker room at halftime. Out of the intermission, Canisius got within five at 37-32 with 17:52 left to play, but Marist answered with a 9-0 run over the game’s next 1:44 to push its cushion to 46-32 with 14:53 showing on the clock.
Trailing 54-39 with 12:05 left to play, Canisius mounted its comeback attempt and got within two points at 67-65 with 1:06 left on the clock, as the Blue and Gold doubled-up Marist, outscoring the Red Foxes 26-13 over a span of 10:59. In that surge, which was capped by a 3-point field goal by Henderson off an assist from Xzavier Long, Moultrie accounted for 14 of Canisius’ points in the comeback effort, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers. But that would be as close as the Griffs would get, as Gardner drove the lane on the Red Foxes’ next possession to put the home team up 69-65 with 55.6 seconds remaining. Down the stretch, Marist hit six-straight free-throws in the closing 35 seconds to seal the victory.
GAME NOTES
• Sunday’s game was the 58th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Canisius leading the series 35-23.
• Henderson has now scored 10-or more points in 13 games this season and 47 times in his career.
• Henderson played in his 122nd career game as a Griff on Sunday, which ranks eight-most for a Griff in program history.
• Moultrie’s two 3-point field goals in the game gives him multiple makes from behind the arc in 12 games this year and 35 times in his career.
• Long matched a career-high with his team-high four assists, the fourth time in his career he’s dished out four assists in a game.
• Fritz was credited with a season-high two blocked shots in the losing cause.
UP NEXT
Canisius will return home next weekend for a pair of MAAC games, starting Friday, Feb. 10, when the Griffs play host to Iona at the Koessler Athletic Center. Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The radio call can be found exclusively through GoGriffs.com. Tickets for Friday’s game, and all remaining Canisius men’s basketball home games, can be purchased by calling the Canisius ticket office at (&16) 888-TIXX or online at GoGriffs.com.
For the most up-to-date information on Canisius men’s basketball, follow @Griffs_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
