By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jim Baron has been a head coach for 29 years. His teams have won more than 440 games. He’s taken two different schools to the NCAA Tournament, and he’s coached at the international level against some of the game’s best. So when the Brooklyn native compares his current team to those of the past, it’s worth a listen.
“This team has more will than any team than I’ve ever had,” Baron said Monday night after his Canisius Golden Griffins erased a pair of double digit deficits en route to a 98-99 victory over the Lehigh Mountainhawks. “This is the kind of team that I love to coach because you do it on heart, soul, grit – all the dirty points.”
But this was also about McMillan’s heady play in the final seconds of the first half and a book end placed by Kevin Bleeker in the game’s final minute.
“We play with a lot of intensity and a lot of grit,” Baron added. “We found a way to win the game against a good basketball team.”
That way to win took root in in the final seconds of first half when McMillan, in the open floor, went to the basket and drove at Lehigh’s Tim Kempton. McMillan made a trip to the free throw line.
“When I seen him under the rim, I just tried to get into his body,” McMillan said.
Kempton, the Patriot League’s reigning player of the year, went to the bench with his third foul and .01 left on the clock.
“It was big,” McMillan said of the play. “Coach was talking about he was their best player. I tried to attack him a little bit because at the beginning we picked up that he really wasn’t trying to get in foul trouble, so he was going to actually foul you or you were going to get an easy bucket because he was backing up.”
Kempton later picked his fourth foul with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Lehigh head coach Dr. Brett Reed was forced to substitute Kempton in and out of the game on offensive and defensive situations.
“Foul difficulty on the whole for us was a challenge,” Reed stated. “It got us out of our offensive and defensive rhythm, most particularly our defensive rhythm. It limited us in many respects. We had to play protection. Fouls were a major factor in this game. We have to defend better without fouling.”
Bleeker drew a fifth foul from Lehigh’s leading scorer with 50 seconds remaining. Kempton used a drop step in the middle of the lane, but Bleeker beat the Lehigh center to the spot and took a charge. The Arizona native went to the bench with his team trailing 92-89.
“Obviously, in that position I want to be playing in the ball game especially in those close situations,” said Kempton the son of a former NBA player by the same name. “We played a horrible defensive game. Letting up 98 points in a college basketball game is a recipe for disaster. We definitely have to lock in on the defensive end. We didn’t guard one on one very well. We need to play better one-on-one defense.”
After falling behind by 14, Canisius outscored Lehigh by 23 over the final 13 minutes of the game.
Phil Valenti nailed a pull-up trey from the right wing to tie the game at 65. Canisius pressed on the ensuing inbound play and created a turnover. The Griffs took advantage, and Kassius Robertson drilled another three.
Valenti followed with a floater in the lane. Lehigh’s Kyle Leufroy answered with a trifecta of his own before Valenti made it a five-point game with a 3-ball from the top of the key.
“He can create a matchup difficulty because of his ability to stretch the defense,” Reed said noting his team’s defense gave Valenti too much room. “After seeing the ball go through the basket, his second three-point shot from the top of the key against our zone was certainly much more comfortable.”
Canisius did not trail again.
“We just wanted to chip away, chip away, chip away,” Baron commented. “We just kept it real simple with attacking it. This is kind of a simple bunch that we have, and I want to keep it simple.”
McMillan did a large part of the chipping away with his second straight 30-point plus performance. The graduate transfer’s 64 points is the best two-game start in blue and gold since Larry Fogle opened the 1973-74 campaign with 76 points.
McMillan hit just two of his attempts behind the arc. His four-point play capped an 8-0 run as the Griffs rallied from 14 down in the second half. McMillan used a spin dribble into a step back on a high screen and roll. For an instant it looked like the 6-0 guard slipped, and Leufroy reacted to the possibility of a loose ball. McMillan regained his footing, drew contact and connected.
Prior to the season, the Baltimore native’s career best stood at 26. He’s already topped that twice in a Canisius uniform. Monday McMillan played like he was unleashed hitting nine of 17 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the free throw line.
He fits right in with Baron’s squad.
“Gritty, junk yard dogs,” Valenti said. “That’s what coach says every day in practice. Be a junk yard dog…That’s our motto.”
Future opponents might want to bring collars and harnesses to play the Golden Griffins.
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