Canisius rallies to defeat Rider

By Paul Casey Gotham

LAWRENCVILLE, N.J. — Gaby Belardo hit a jumper in the lane as the shot clock expired with 7.8 seconds remaining in the game as the Canisius Golden Griffins knocked off the Rider Broncs 67-65 Friday night in Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference action at Alumni Gynasium.

Belardo’s basket capped a late rally by the Griffs.

Down 65-62, senior Greg Logins drilled a three from the left corner to tie the score with 1:08 remaining. The Canisius defense stiffened at the other end of the floor setting up Belardo’s late-game heroics.

The comeback was the last in a series by the Blue and Gold.

The Broncs jumped out to a 20-12 in the first half before the Griffs rallied. Alshwan Hymes cut the lead to one at 24-23 with  a three. Rider scored the next six, but the Griffs answered with a 7-2 run before the break.

Rider opened the second half on 9-2 run. Elton Frazier responded with four points and Logins hit another trifecta as the Griffs closed the gap to 43-41.

The Broncs grabbed another seven-point lead with 7:07 remaining, but the Griffs were up to the task.

Julius Coles had a game-high 18 points going 6-of-12 from the field including 2-of-3 behind the arc to go with 4-of-5 shooting at the free throw line. Logins hit 4-of-8 from long range finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Frazier added 10 points and seven boards. Reggie Groves led the Griffs with four assists.

Danny Stewart led the Broncs with nine rebounds and 17 points going 7-of-10 from the field.

The Griffs held the Broncs to just 2-of-14 shooting from behind the arc. Rider came into the game 11th in the country hitting better than 40 percent from long range. Canisius entered play Friday 51st in the nation holding opponents to 40.4 percent from the field.

The win was the first ever for Canisius at Rider. The Griffs were 0-14 in road games at Rider. The Broncs scored at the buzzer to defeat Canisius earlier this year 77-76.

With their third win in a row the Griffs improve to 13-11 overall and 7-7 in the MAAC and move into a tie for sixth place just one game behind the Loyola Greyhounds. Canisius visits Loyola on Sunday. The noon game will be televised locally on MSG.

Rider falls to 17-9 and 9-5.

The top six teams earn a first-round bye in the upcoming MAAC tournament.