CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
ALBANY — Siena’s Jordan Horn hit a 3-point field goal with 5.4 seconds left to play and Canisius senior Jermaine Crumpton saw hits 3-point attempt rim-out at the buzzer, as the host Saints defeated the Golden Griffins 65-62 Sunday afternoon in Times Union Center. The win snaps Siena’s three-game skid and improves the team to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in MAAC play, while the Griffs saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with the loss. Canisius is now 9-8 overall and 3-1 in conference action.
Canisius trailed Siena 62-59 with 25.5 seconds left to play when freshman Takal Molson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored a lay-up while being fouled. The Buffalo native made the ensuing free-throw for the traditional three-point play to knot the game at 62-62, the first time Canisius had been tied or in the lead since the 7:38 mark of the first half. The Saints came down the floor and worked the ball around the perimeter for close to 20 seconds before Horn pulled up from the far wing and drilled his third 3-pointer of the game to make the score 65-62 with 5.4 seconds remaining. Canisius raced up the floor and Crumpton had a look to tie that game at the buzzer, but the Niagara Falls, N.Y., natives’ shot bounced in and out of the rim as the horn sounded, allowing Siena to earn the home victory.
Molson scored a game-high 21 points in the loss for Canisius, which shot 37.5 percent from the field, 23.1 percent from 3-point land and 88.9 percent from the free-throw line in the losing effort. Sophomore Isaiah Reese scored 12 points to go with seven assists and five steals and Crumpton added 11 points and two assists. Junior Jonathan Sanks came off the bench to add eight points and three rebounds to Canisius effort as the Blue and Gold ended the contest being out rebounded by Siena by a 43-24 for the game.
Four Siena players scored in double-figures in the win, led by Ashante Shivers’ team-high 18 points. Evan Fisher added 16 points and nine rebounds to the winning cause for the Saints, who shot 44.9 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from 3-point land and 77.3 percent from the charity stripe for the game.
Canisius led 18-11 with 11:26 left to play before halftime, but the Saints closed the first stanza on a 17-3 run over the final 10:22 of the half to take a 28-21 lead into the locker room at intermission. That run was helped by the fact that the Griffs went 1-for-19 from the field to close the opening stanza, going without a field goal for the final 8:12 before break. In the second half, Siena pushed its cushion to as many as nine at 33-24 with 18:07 left on the clock, but the Griffs battled back and trailed by three at 46-43 with 10:50 left after Crumpton laid one over the front rim.
Siena answered Canisius run with five-straight points to make the score 51-43 with 9:34 left to play. Canisius was able to get within one point at 57-56 with 3:02 remaining on another lay-up by Crumpton, but out of a Siena timeout, Shivers scored a bucket and made the following free-throw to push the score to 61-56 with 1:28 left. The Griffs answered with a 3-pointer back Sanks from the far corner to make the score 61-59 with 1:16 left, but Horn pushed Siena’s lead to three points at 62-59 with a made free-throw with 38 ticks left, setting up Molson’s traditional three-point play to tie the game.
