Box Score
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – Down by two with nine seconds left, the Manhattan College team had the ball and a chance to tie on Friday night. The Jaspers ran the clock down and got off a final shot, but it didn't go, and Manhattan (12-13, 9-7 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) ended up dropping a 70-68 decision to Canisius (12-14, 7-10 MAAC) at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Canisius led 58-53 early in the fourth quarter, but Manhattan responded with a 5-0 run, tying the game at 58-58 on a Jacqui Thompson (Southampton, PA) three-pointer with 6:35 remaining. After the Griffs brought their advantage back to four, 64-60, Maeve Parahus (Congers, NY) nailed a trey to again cut the Jaspers' deficit to one, 64-63.
A pair of free throws by Lauren D'Hont put Canisius in front 69-66 at the 17-second mark. After a Manhattan timeout, Amani Tatum (Cambria Heights, NY) was fouled. She missed both free throws, but Kylla Champagne (Paterson, NJ) grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, PA), who drew another Canisius foul. Ross sank both foul shots to make it a 69-68 game with 12 seconds to go.
The Griffs then called timeout and advanced the ball into the front court. D'Hont was fouled immediately, and she went 1-for-2 at the line to put Canisius up two, 70-68. Out of timeouts, the Jaspers pushed the ball up the floor and found Parahus with just over a second left. However, her shot was off the mark and D'Hont grabbed the rebound, securing the win for Canisius.
Tatum had 18 points to lead all scorers, and she added three assists and three steals. Parahus drained five treys and finished with a career-high 17 points, while Ross notched 14 points and seven rebounds. Thompson handed out four assists for the Jaspers, who shot 41.3 percent (26-of-63) as a team. Manhattan went 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) from long range and 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) at the free throw line.
It was tight throughout, as neither side led by more than six points. A Ross layup put Manhattan up 17-15 late in the first quarter, but Sara Hinriksdottir was fouled on a layup and sank the free throw to give the Griffs an 18-17 advantage after one period. In the second quarter, it was the Jaspers' turn to take the lead on a late bucket, as Parahus hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer sounded to give Manhattan a 33-30 halftime edge.
After a Tatum trey early in the third quarter gave the Jaspers their largest lead of the game, a 36-30 cushion, Canisius went on a 19-9 run to open up a 49-45 advantage. A pair of Mikki Guiton (Schwenksville, PA) free throws brought Manhattan within two, 49-47, but the Griffs responded with four straight points to increase the margin to six points, 53-47. Parahus sank a trey with 23 seconds left in the quarter to pull the Jaspers within three, 53-50, entering the final period.
Maria Welch led four Griffs in double figures with 17 points. D'Hont added 13 points and five assists, while Margret Halfdanardottir tallied 13 points and four assists. Crystal Porter contributed 10 points and Sarah Cooley grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. As a team, Canisius shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the floor, 35 percent (7-of-20) from three-point land, and 82.5 percent (19-of-23) at the charity stripe. The Griffs also outrebounded the Jaspers 36-33.
Manhattan concludes its annual Western New York swing on Sunday with a 2 p.m. matchup at Niagara (6-20, 4-13 MAAC). The Jaspers posted an 80-62 victory over the Purple Eagles when the squads met at Draddy Gymnasium on Dec. 4.
NOTES: The Jaspers wore pink t-shirts, socks and shoelaces in support of the “Play 4 Kay” initiative for breast cancer awareness…Manhattan and Canisius split the season series for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign…Canisius leads the all-time series 32-26…Manhattan used a different starting lineup for the third straight game and the ninth time this season…The Jaspers fell to 1-2 this season in games broadcast on ESPN3…Parahus became the third different Manhattan player this season to drain at least five treys in a game…Her previous career-high was 16 points against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 14, 2014…Five of Manhattan's seven MAAC losses have been by a combined 12 points.
