Jan. 7, 2006
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- All five Canisius College starters scored in double figures which helped the Golden Griffs leave the Arena at Harbor Yard with an 84-73 win over the Fairfield University men's basketball team. Terrence Todd scored a game-high 25 points to pace the Stags offense.
The two teams seemed evenly matched at the beginning of the game, which translated into what happened on the floor. In the first 11 minutes of the first half, there were four lead changes and six tied scores, before the Stags took the lead on a basket by Mamadou Diakhate with 8:55 remaining, making the score 19-17. Fairfield built its lead to six points at 23-17 after Diakhate connected on a pair of free throws.
The Stags still owned a six-point lead at the 3:18 mark, as Danny Oglesby's basket pushed the score to 27-21. Canisius used an 8-2 run over the next minute and a half to tie the score 29-29 with 1:45 on the clock. The score remainied tied at 32-32 after Michael Bell made one of two free throws with four seconds left.
There was still enough time for Jon Popofski to run the length of the court and release a three-point shot which went through the hoop as the buzzer sounded, giving the visitors a 35-32 advantage at intermission.
The Golden Griffs never trailed in the second half, and used accurate shooting overall and from outside the three-point arc to dash any Fairfield hopes of coming back in the contest. Canisius made 14 of 21 field goal attempts in the second half, which allowed the team to finish the game with a .600 field goal percentage. The Griffs, who led by as many as 13 points in the second half, also used good shooting from behind the arc. The squad shot 58 percent from three-point range, making 11 of 19 long-range jumpers.
Michael Van Schaick was the only other Fairfield player in double figures, netting 11 points by making four of five field goal attempts. Chuck Harris led the Canisius offense with 19 points, while Jon Popofski and Darnell Wilson added 16 and 13 points, respectively.
