POUGHKEEPSIE — Canisius scored seven points in the game’s final 3:00 and had two chances to tie the game in the closing seconds, but the Golden Griffins came up short in a 76-74 loss to Marist Sunday afternoon in McCann Arena. The win snapped the Red Foxes’ nine-game losing streak and moved the team to 7-22 overall and 4-14 in MAAC play, while Canisius fell to 17-12 overall and 10-8 in conference action.
The Griffs trailed Marist 75-67 with 3:15 left on the clock before mounting their comeback attempt. A driving lay-up by senior Kiefer Douse and a 3-pointer by fellow senior Phil Valenti got the Blue and Gold within three at 75-72 with 2:08 left on the clock. After a Marist miss, Canisius missed on a chance to tie with a 3-point shot, but junior Jermaine Crumpton grabbed the rebound and Canisius cashed in a timeout with 1:21 left. Out of the timeout, Valenti knocked down a long two-point field goal that made the score 75-74 with 1:06 left to play. The officials reviewed the play on the replay monitor and ruled Valenti’s foot was on the 3-point line when he took the shot.
After both teams traded turnovers, Canisius was forced to foul Marist senior Khallid Hart with 16 seconds remaining. Hart made one of two free-throws, and the Griffs raced up the floor trailing 76-74 with the clock running and no timeouts. A runner in the lane and an attempted tip-in on the rebound as time ticked down both banged off the iron, and Marist was able to gain possession of the ball with 0.7 seconds left to play. The win for Marist was the team’s third since the start of the 2017 calendar year.
Canisius led by as many as 11 points early in the second half, but an 18-6 run by Marist over the span of 5:19 gave the Red Foxes the lead at 51-50 with 13:08 left to play. Neither team led by more than five points down the stretch until the Red Foxes used a 6-0 run in 50 seconds to turn a two point lead at 66-64 into an eight-point cushion at 72-64 with 3:52 showing on the clock.
Douse had a team-high 19 points in the loss for the Griffs, his seventh-straight game with 10-or more points scored. Valenti was good for 18 points, while junior Kassius Robertson and sophomore Chris Atkinson each tallied nine. Canisius shot 44.4 percent from the field and made 10 3-point field goals in the loss, while Marist shot 59.5 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line.
Hart scored a game-high 22 points for Marist, while sophomore Ryan Funk added 21 points after going 8-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from 3-point land. Hart also grabbed eight rebounds for the Red Foxes, which out rebounded Canisius by a 30-25 clip for the game.
Canisius will close out the regular-season at home, starting Friday when the team plays host to Fairfield. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The live audio call will be available on TIMELESS WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM in Buffalo, and through GoGriffs.com.
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