By Paul Gotham
BUFFALO, NY – Losing streak. Those two words didn’t sit well with the Canisius Golden Griffins, and they took matters upon themselves to distance themselves from that phrase.
Isaac Sosa led three in double figures, and Billy Baron turned in a double-double as the Golden Griffins led wire-to-wire in a 73-64 victory over the Marist Red Foxes in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at the Koessler Athletic Center, Saturday night.
The Griffs connected on their first three attempts from long range to start the game.
Chris Manhertz flashed across the lane to take a post entry from Baron. When he was forced outside the paint, the 6-6 forward found Baron relocating at the top of the key for a catch-and-shoot trey. On the next possession, Baron used a Manhertz high screen for a trifecta.
“It felt good. It felt really good,” said Billy Baron about the early start for the Griffs. “We’ve kind of taken that first punch. It was good to start off well.”
Isaac Sosa followed with his first three-ball for an early 9-2 advantage.
The first-half start paled in comparison to what Sosa did immediately after the break. The senior guard connected on four straight triples to stretch a nine-point advantage to 16.
“I was just ready,” Sosa commented. “When I hit my first two in the second half, I got it going, and Billy found me wide open. He recognizes those times and takes advantage of them.
With Baron dribbling out of pressure, Sosa created space by fading below foul-line extended for his first trey of the second stanza. The two combined on each of the four trifecta. Baron found Sosa on the break after Chris Manhertz deflected away a Marist pass into the post. Finally, Sosa used a screen in the paint and made a UCLA cut to the top of the key for his fourth consecutive to give the Blue and Gold its largest lead of the night at 48-32.
Sosa hit five-of-11 from long range for a team-high 22 points. The effort came after Thursday night’s loss to Fairfield where he went zero-for-six from behind the arc.
“I let that go. To be honest I didn’t worry about it,” Sosa explained. “It’s not like any one of us had a good game. We really struggled on Thursday. I was being myself. Same thing, being aggressive and letting my shots fly.”
Marist chipped away at the deficit.
Devin Price went end-to-end for a layup to cut the lead to single digits at 57-48. The senior guard nailed a three-ball from the top of the key to trim the lead to seven. Manny Thomas drilled a three from the right wing, and Chavaughn Lewis connected over the outstretched hand of Jordan Heath to cut the lead to five at 65-60.
But that was as close as the Red Foxes would get.
“I thought we shot the ball okay in the second half,” said Marist head coach Chuck Martin. “We had opportunities to really cut the deficit from five to three. There was a loose ball we gave up. Then there were two or three offensive rebounds we gave up.”
Manhertz sealed the triumph with an offensive rebound and putback dunk. He followed that with two more offensive rebounds on the possession before taking contact and getting to the free throw line where he sunk a pair of charity tosses.
“Chris was just a monster on the backboard,” said Canisius head coach Jim Baron. “I was very, very concerned about this game because ou come off playing against a tough Fairfield team, and now we got to bounce back and play a Marist team that we beat, and it’s tough beating a team twice.”
Freddy Asprilla sparked a 13-5 run as the Golden Griffins went into halftime with 36-24 lead.
Asprilla sprung Harold Washington with a rebound and outlet. Washington found Billy Baron on the break for a pull-up three. Manhertz followed with a basket along the baseline. On the next possession, Baron fed Asprilla in the lane after the duo worked a high ball screen. Asprilla used a shoulder fake to his right, a spin dribble and jump hook for the deuce.
“That was huge for us,” Baron said of Asprilla’s performance. “We need Freddy down the stretch because he’s got such a big body.”
At the other end, Asprilla blocked a Price drive to the basket for the 12-point advantage at the break.
Washington started the run with an acrobatic layup as Baron grabbed the loose ball after another Asprilla block and feathered a pass over the retreating Marist defense to Washington for the finish.
On the next trip, Baron used another Asprilla ball screen to get inside for a layup.
“I just told him you got to get closer to the bucket,” Baron noted of his instructions for Asprilla. “Sometimes, I think Freddy thinks he’s Shaq. When he can get in eight feet and take two steps. In college basketball they’re are going to call that a walk almost every time.”
The Red Foxes responded.
Lewis hit a pretty pull-up jumper in the lane. Adam Kemp took an alley oop from Phillip Lawrence and flushed home a dunk. On the next trip, Lawrence banked in a jumper from the left elbow, and Marist trailed 11-8.
Sosa added five rebounds and an assist to his 22 points.
Billy Baron dished out 10 assists to go with 17 points.
Jordan Heath chipped in 11 points.
Manhertz had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Marist’s Lewis hit nine-of-18 including two-of-five behind the arc for a game-high and career-high 24 points. The sophomore led the Red Foxes with eight boards.
Price added 16.
Marist falls to 1-3 the MAAC and 4-11 overall.
Canisius improves to 3-1 in the league and 10-5 for the slate. The Grffs are in three-way tie atop the MAAC with Niagara and the Fairfield Stags.
The Stags defeated Canisius 66-45, Thursday night.
The Griffs defeated Marist, 94-82 on December ninth. The Griffs have a 22-15 advantage all-time on the Red Foxes. Canisius has taken nine of the 12 versus Marist.
Canisius next plays at Siena on Friday. A 7 p.m. tip is scheduled at the Times Union Center.
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