Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
Canisius senior Jermaine Crumpton scored a season-high 24 points, while sophomore Malik Johnson and freshman Takal Molson added 12 points apiece, as the host Golden Griffins defeated Dartmouth 73-60 Saturday afternoon in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win moves Canisius to 4-4 on the season, while the Big Green fell to 2-3 with the loss.
Crumpton scored his 24 points after he went 9-for-13 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3-point land and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the win. He also dished out a career-high four assists, grabbed three boards and was credited with two steals in 34 minutes of action. Johnson added five assists and a steal to his final stat line, while Molson posted double-figures in the scoring column for the fourth time this season after he went 4-for-8 from the field, which included two 3-point field goals. For the game, Canisius, which leads the MAAC in field goal percentage, shot 57.1 percent from the floor after going 28-for-49 for the contest.
Dartmouth’s Taylor Johnson had 13 points in the loss for the Big Green, while Chris Knight came off the bench to score 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Dartmouth shot 54.5 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from 3-point range in the game’s first 20 minutes, but went cold in the second half, where the team shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, including a 1-for-10 effort from behind the 3-point arc.
Dartmouth used hot-shooting from 3-point land in the game’s opening minutes to jump out to an early 14-7 lead just 4:12 into the game, but a bucket from Molson and back-to-back 3-pointers by Johnson and Crumpton put the Griffs ahead 15-14 with 13:43 left before halftime. A lay-up by Crumpton at the 11:59 mark of the first half put the Blue and Gold in the lead for good, as the Griffs led by six at the break at 38-32.
In the second half, Canisius stretched its lead to as many as 16 points at 65-49 after Crumpton slammed home a two-handed jam off a feed from Molson, who was credited with four assists on the day. Dartmouth worked Canisius’ lead down to eight points at 65-57 with 1:26 left to play, but the Griffs closed out the game’s final 84 seconds by going 8-for-8 at the free-throw line to seal the victory.
Canisius outrebounded Dartmouth by a 32-26 clip, with sophomore guard Isaiah Reese leading the way for Canisius with eight boards. He also dished out five assists to go with his six points in the win. Senior Selvedin Planincic came off the bench to record six points, six rebounds and a steal in 14 minutes of action.
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon’s Postgame Comments
“Dartmouth is well-coached and they will run their offense all the way through before they try and score, so you have to be locked in at all times defensively, or they’ll make you pay. I thought we did a pretty good job staying mentally focused today, at both ends of the floor. We had that one stretch in the second half where we got a little tired mentally, and they were able to score on us. With a young team like this, sometimes the mental endurance part of the game is slow to develop. We’ve talked about this a lot recently, and after we took a timeout, I thought we finished strong, which is good to see.”
Game Notes
• This was the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs. The series is now tied at 4-4.
• Canisius has now scored 70-or more points 31 times in 42 games under Reggie Witherspoon.
• The Griffs are now 2-0 at home for the fourth time in the last six seasons and Saturday’s win stands as the 224th victory for the program in the Koessler Athletic Center.
• Crumpton’s 24 points on Saturday gives him 1,146 for his career. He ranks 25th in school history in career scoring.
• In the team’s last three games, Johnson has 20 assists against just two turnovers.
• Reese has led Canisius in rebounding six times this season.
Up Next
Canisius will close out its brief two-game homestand on Wednesday, Dec. 6, when the Griffs play host to long-time rival St. Bonaventure in the Koessler Athletic Center. Game time is for 7 p.m. The 166th all-time meeting between the rival schools will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with the radio call available on Buffalo’s WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM, GoGriffs.com and the TUNEIN app.
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