By Paul Casey Gotham
BUFFALO, NY — Holding the opposing team’s leading scorer 12 under his season average is usually a good sign. Except when that player takes advantage of the opportunity to display his entire game.
Antoine Mason and Marvin Jordan took care of the scoring, and leading scorer Juan’ya Green handed out 11 assists as the Niagara Purple Eagles defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins 75-56 in MAAC action at the Koessler Athletic Center Thursday night.
“That’s him. The maestro,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said of Green referring to the Seinfeld episode. “Just get him the ball, and these guys get open. He gets it to them. That’s the way he is. He figures it out on his own.”
Green, who came into the game averaging a team-high 18, chose distribution over production on this night shooting the ball just six times.
“The team is playing better when I am in the distributor role,” Green said of his performance. “I just like to get my team going before I get going.”
After Canisius trimmed a 19-point lead to five, Green was at his best slicing an extended 2-3 zone with passes on consecutive possessions to Ameen Tanksley for baskets.
“Ameen Tanksley was telling us what play to run,” Mihalich explained. “He was right. That little lay up he was getting. He said coach run this little play, and Juan’ya will get it to me.”
On back-to-back trips Green delivered the ball from the top of the arc through the defense to Tanksley on the baseline for easy finishes, and NU led 64-54.
Buoyed by a spirited Gaby Belardo, the Griffs jumped to an early 10-2 advantage.
Belardo opened the scoring on a runner from the left wing. On the next trip, Josiah Heath chased down two offensive rebounds, and the second time he went inside-out to Belardo for a three.
The Griffs broke the Purple Eagles’ three-quarter court pressure, and Belardo found Chris Manhertz for a 12-foot jumper. Belardo capped the spurt with a long trey, and Niagara was forced to call a timeout.
The Purple Eagles found their measure from long range soon after. Jordan came off the bench and connected from behind the arc four times in three minutes. Down four Jordan hit his first to draw the Purple Eagles within one. One possession later, the sophomore grabbed a long rebound and, without hesitation, let fly for Niagara’s first lead of the game 17-15 . A lead NU would never surrender.
Jordan stretched the lead to five when he slipped behind the Canisius zone, and Malcolm Lemmons found him on the baseline for another trey. Jordan completed the run when Green found him in transition for a three early in the shot clock.
“We call him microwave like Vinnie Johnson,” Mihalich said of how Jordan’s role is similar to the former Detroit Piston great. “He gets in the game; we get better.”
“As long as they were going to leave me, I was going to make sure I was knocking shots down,” Jordan commented.
Jordan’s four treys were part of a run where the Purple Eagles hit six consecutive from long range and seven of their first ten.
Mason continued the micro-burst with a catch-and-shoot three from the left corner. Niagara led 29-19.
“Once our shots started falling it opened up the whole floor,” Mason commented. “It was just open opportunities for everybody.”
Meanwhile, the Niagara defense stymied the Golden Griffin attack. Using a a variety of zone looks, the Purple Eagles held the Griffs without a field goal for more than six minutes late in the first half.
“Our perimeter defense was really good,” Mihalich explained. “We did a great job of closing out; getting to the shooters; knowing where the shooters were. We did a really good job with that. The idea was for every time one of those guys looked up not to be one-on-one but one-on-five.”
Chris Manhertz broke through with a rebound and putback of a Gaby Belardo miss. The Griffs rallied scoring the next four to close out the half. Alshwan Hymes hit a step back jumper inside the arc. A defensive stop and the Griffs returned to the attack. Josiah Heath ripped down an offensive and found Hymes open under the rim as Canisius closed to within 10 at 37-27 before the break.
It took the Purple Eagles little more than a minute to erase that Griff run.
Green found Tanksley under the rim for a basket. Lemmons pulled up in transition, and Mason took a Green lead into the open court and flushed a dunk.
Niagara maintained the lead. Green drove the paint and hit Josh Turner slashing along the baseline for a traditional three-point play and the Purple Eagles led 50-34.
The Griffs inched back.
Hymes stuck a three from 25 feet. The junior guard connected twice from the charity stripe. A catch-and-shoot three in transition by Hymes and Canisius trailed by 11.
Manhertz hit a baseline jumper. Harold Washington made good on a trip to the line, and Canisius narrowed the gap to five at 58-53.
But that was as close as the Blue and Gold would get.
Mason led all scorers with 22. Jordan and Tanksley added 16 and 11 respectively. Green’s 11 dimes were a career-high. He is averaging more than seven assists in his last four outings.
Hymes paced Canisius with 20. Belardo and Manhertz chipped in 13 apiece. Manhertz pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds. It was the sophomore’s third double-double of the season. He entered play averaging 8.8 boards per game – good for second in the MAAC.
Canisius falls to 1-7 in MAAC play and 4-14 overall. The Griffs play at Rider Sunday afternoon.
Niagara improves to 4-4 and 9-11. The Purple Eagles will play at Manhattan also on Sunday afternoon.
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