By PAUL GOTHAM
LEWISTON, N.Y. — Two weeks ago the Canisius Golden Griffins were a team looking for answers. Mired in a four-game losing streak, the Golden Griffins looked incapable of stopping anybody on defense.
Friday night Canisius turned the tables on long-time rival Niagara for its third straight victory.
Canisius switched to a zone defense for the second half and limited the Purple Eagles to 10-of-28 shooting (19-of-53 overall) en route to a 70-61 victory.
“It slowed them down,” Canisius coach Jim Baron said of his team’s defense. “They’re very athletic. They can take it off the dribble. In the first half, we gave them too many foul shots. I just didn’t want them to do that.”
At the beginning of the month Canisius led the MAAC and ranked in the top 20 of the country scoring more than 80 points a game. They were a team that wanted to get up and down the floor, push the ball. Friday they beat Niagara on its home court and at its own game.
The Purple Eagles came into the contest second in the MAAC in overall scoring defense (69.8 ppg) and on pace for its lowest points per game since the 2009-10 season. In their recent win over Manhattan, NU posted a plus-19 rebound margin. Friday night, the Griffs grabbed a 35-34 advantage on the glass.
“They were very good around the basket,” Niagara coach Chris Casey said. “I knew we had to be tough around the basket because they are.”
Kevin Bleeker and Phil Valenti led an inside attack which outscored their opponent 34-22 in the paint.
Valenti scored seven in an 11-2 first-half run as the Griffs turned a five-point deficit into four-point advantage. The 6-7 junior forward got position in the lane off an inbound pass and finished at the rim. He converted a rebound and putback on the next trip and then used defense to generate offense when he hedged on a ball screen to create a turnover. Teammate Kiefer Douse grabbed an errant pass and led Valenti into the open-court for a bucket.
“Phil has that capacity especially when he gets to the middle of the floor,” Baron commented. “He’s very athletic, and he can score the ball. He can put the ball on the floor. He can attack the basket, plus he’s a very good passer. It was pivotal. We wanted to put him in a pivotal spot.”
Valenti registered his second double-double of the season grabbing 11 rebounds to go with 14 points.
Bleeker capped the run with a dunk to give Canisius a 22-18 edge with 4:52 to go in the first half.
Niagara briefly regained the lead at 45-43 in the second half when Matt Scott knocked down a pull-up jumper just outside the lane.
Malcolm McMillan responded with a pair of free throws, and Kassius Robertson converted a steal and bucket for a 47-45 lead with 9:19 remaining in the game. Canisius did not trail again in the game.
Robertson finished with 15 points on the night hitting 5-of-9 from the floor. His game-high three 3-pointers loosened the Niagara zone, but the sophomore guard only wanted to discuss his team’s renewed emphasis on the defensive end of the floor.
“That Manhattan game at home definitely woke us up,” Robertson said recalling the 94-86 loss on January 7th when the Jaspers Shane Richards hit 11 of 14 from the floor including 6 of 7 behind the arc. “It was a wake-up call. We were struggling with defense from the very first game of the year. I don’t know what it was, but I think it really drilled it into our heads against Manhattan when Shane had 32 on us.
“We knew that was going to be our ticket to the win. We strung together a couple of defensive games and our offense was all right. We got a couple of wins.”
Canisius has allowed 59 points a game over the last three contests.
After a Karonn Davis layup with 6:19 remaining, Canisius held Niagara without a field goal for the next 5:32.
“I thought we needed to get the zone flat by playing some behind the zone,” Casey said. “We started to drive the ball a little bit better and get to the foul line. Use the high post a little bit more.
“We got to try to where we’re playing from in front four or five points in front. We had some opportunities to do that in the first half with some open shots and some open. We could have been a little bit better against the zone in that second half, but it’s 40-minute game and there were some other spots.”
McMillan paced Canisius with 17 on 12-of-14 shooting from the free throw line.
Bleeker chipped in with seven.
Scott led all scorers with 20. Emile Blackman added 14 for Niagara.
Blocking out the noise
Canisius opened the game 3 of 12 from the floor with one assist and four turnovers including back-to-back shot clock violations in the first 8:26.
“We had some trouble communicating,” Valenti said. “It’s not an excuse, but it was loud in there. We haven’t really been in atmosphere like that.
“When we were running out in the beginning, I was like ‘dang, there are a lot of people here.’ That kinda got us ready. Just because we haven’t been part of an atmosphere like that yet this year.”
The Griffs finished the game with 11 miscues. They handed out 14 dimes on 20 of 41 made field goals the rest of the way.
“We didn’t play real smart early on,” Baron said. “Once we got moving and executing then we made some adjustments…We started to move the ball around. We started to share the basketball.”
The blue and gold came into the game handing out helpers on 57 percent of their made field goals. After Friday, Canisius ranks second in the MAAC and 60th in the nation at 58. The Griffs hand out assists on 63 percent of their made FGs in conference play.
“That’s coach getting us into what we need to get in, finding the weak spots in their defense,” Valenti said.
Series stuff
Niagara leads the series which started in 1905-06, 97-80. Canisius has now taken five of the last six in the matchup including four straight at Niagara’s Gallagher Center. The two meet again on February 25th at the Koessler Athletic Center. Niagara won last year’s meeting on Main Street, 82-71.
Looking ahead
The Griffs (10-10/5-4) hosts Siena (12-7/5-3) on Sunday afternoon, 2 p.m. Canisius will honor former coach John Beilein and the 1993-96 teams at halftime of the contest. Beilein led Canisius to two NIT appearances and the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
Niagara (5-15/3-6) hosts Siena on Tuesday night.
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