Courtesy of GoGriffs.com
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Canisius senior Jermaine Crumpton scored a game-high 24 points and sophomore Isaiah Reese added 23 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, but it was not enough for the Golden Griffins, as the Blue and Gold fell on the road at Rider 83-82 Sunday in front of a sold-out crowd in Rider’s Alumni Gymnasium. The win, Rider’s 10th straight, moves the Broncs to 21-7 overall and 14-2 in MAAC play, while Canisius slips to 19-10 overall and 13-3 in conference action. The loss ended Canisius’ six-game win streak.
Canisius trailed by four at 83-79 with 1:33 left to play before Reese drilled one of his four 3-point field goals moments later to make the score 83-82 in favor of the Broncs with 1:13 left on the clock. After the teams traded empty possessions inside of 1:00 to play, Canisius forced Rider to throw the ball away with 14.6 seconds left, setting up one final chance for the Griffs. On the Griffs’ final possession, Rider knocked the ball loose, but Canisius was able to regain control. With less than two seconds left, Reese battled down the right-hand side of the lane and tried to get off the game-winner, but his shot hit the side-iron as the horn sounded and the Broncs left the floor with the one-point victory.
Crumpton went 8-for-16 from the field, 2-for-8 from 3-point land and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line in the loss. His fade-away baseline jumper with 13:22 left in the first half allowed him to become just the eighth player in school history to reach the 1,500-career point milestone. Reese hit on eight of his 19 field goal attempts, with four of those makes coming from long-range. All 12 of his rebounds came off the defensive glass, and he also recorded three assists as well. Junior Jonathan Sanks came off the bench and scored 10 points while sophomore Malik Johnson added nine points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals to the losing effort, as the Griffs shot 45.5 percent from the field, 34.4 percent from 3-point land and 64.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Canisius trailed by as many as nine midway through the first half, but the Griffs worked their way back into the game and trailed by four at the half, 47-43. In the second half, Crumpton scored the Griffs’ first nine points out of the halftime break to give the Blue and Gold a 52-49 lead, and moments later, a driving lay-up by Molson with 16:03 left to pay gave the Griffs their largest lead at 54-49. The remainder of the second half was a back-and-forth affair, which saw the lead change hands 10 times to go with four ties.
Rider’s Dimencio Vaughn scored 22 points to go with nine rebounds in the win for Rider, which has the second-longest win streak in the nation after Vermont lost Sundayto Hartford. Jordan Allen added 19 points, with Stevie Jordan posting nine points, six assists and three rebounds. The Broncs shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point land and 72.4 percent from the charity stripe in the win. Canisius ended up winning the rebounding battle with the MAAC’s top rebounding team, grabbing 39 boards against Rider’s 35.
Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon’s Postgame Comments
“This was a great college basketball game, but obviously we’re disappointed with the loss. It was a tough, physical game played at a really high pace by two similar teams. We played a very similar game up in Buffalo, but the result was different. I think their ability to dictate the pace of the game and our lack of aggressiveness defensively ended up being the difference today.”
Game Notes
• This was the 48th all-time meeting between the two schools in a series Rider leads 35-13.
- Both games between Canisius and Rider this year were decided by one point, and the home team won both games.
• This marks the 16th time in series history where the final outcome between the Griffs and Broncs was decided by five points or less. Rider is 12-4 in those games. - After recording a season-high 14 steals in the win over Monmouth on Friday, Canisius had a just three steals Sunday.
• Crumpton has now scored in double-figures in 25-straight games. - Reese’s 23-point effort marks his ninth game this season with 20-or more points scored.
Up Next
Canisius will close out its three-game MAAC road stretch Wednesday, Feb. 21, when the team travels north to meet long-time rival Niagara Game time is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on MAAC.TV. The radio call will be available on Buffalo’s WECK 1230-AM and 102.9-FM, GoGriffs.com and the TUNEIN app.
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