BUFFALO, NY – The Saint Peter's University men's basketball team suffered a 63-60 setback to Canisius College on Saturday afternoon at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, NY, giving the Griffs the weekend series sweep over the Peacocks. The defeat dropped the Peacock's MAAC record to an even 3-3 and their overall record to 6-5 this season.
For the fourth time this season, four different Peacocks eclipsed double digits. The quartet included
KC Ndefo (15),
Daryl Banks III (12),
Doug Edert (10) and
Matthew Lee (10).
The Basics
Score: Saint Peter's 60, Canisius 63
Records: Saint Peter's (6-5, 3-3 MAAC) | Canisius (3-3, 3-3 MAAC)
Location: Koessler Athletic Center | Buffalo, NY
How It Happened
- Saint Peter's came out with the same energy in game two as it did in game one, soaring out to a 10-3 lead --- its largest lead of the afternoon --- four and half minutes into the game.
- Banks scored half of the team's points, making a layup and a triple in the timeframe.
- Canisius eventually stopped SPU's run and took a one-point lead (11-10) before Ndefo responded with a one-handed posterizing dunk off a pocket pass from Banks to put the Peacocks back in the lead.
- The two sides would exchange punches over the next four minutes with ties at 14 and 18 ahead of Hassan Drame's putback layup that would give the Peacocks a 20-18 lead with eight and a half remaining in the half.
- Saint Peter's would go 5:12 between baskets, falling behind by five in the meeting when Banks eventually hit a three-pointer to end the slump (25-23).
- Trailing by four-points with just over one-minute left in the half, H. Drame and Banks scored on layups in consecutive possessions to knot the game at 29-29.
- Although the Peacocks tied the game, the Griffs drained a bank shot three with nine seconds left to take a 32-29 lead into the break.
- Five minutes into the second half, Saint Peter's fell behind 44-38.
- Over the course of the next 3:32, the Peacocks outscored the Griffs 10-0 to overtake the lead and go ahead by four-points (48-44).
- Ndefo led the charge with five points (he also scored eight of the team's last 11 points), with the Peacocks converting on 4-of-8 shots from the field (1-for-2 from beyond the arc) while holding Canisius to 0-of-3 shooting from the floor and a turnover.
- Despite the rally and the lead change, Saint Peter's flame wore off and the squad surrendered a 9-0 run for the next five minutes, falling behind 53-48 with only four minutes to play.
- Still lagging behind with under one minute to go, Edert banked in a trey ball that made it a one possession game (58-56) with 14 seconds reading on the game clock.
- The sides exchanged free throws for the rest of the afternoon --- Saint Peter's making all four of its charity stripe visits while Canisius hit 5-of-6 freebies --- to make it a 63-60 game with .03 seconds left.
- One last effort by the Peacocks to tie the game was unsuccessful, as Edert's half court heave didn't come out of his hands in time to beat the buzzer, resulting in the three-point defeat.
Notes
- Ndefo led the Peacocks in scoring for the second straight game and fourth time overall this season with his 15 points.
- The junior forward stuffed the stat sheet as he so often does, accounting for all four of Saint Peter's blocks, pulling down six boards, dishing out three assists, and forcing one steal.
- Banks and Edert also surpassed double digit points in consecutive games, giving Banks his eighth game in double figures and Edert his fifth straight game above 10 points.
- Lee rounded out the top point earners, scoring all 10 of his points in the second half of the game.
- H. Drame missed out on his first double-double of the season scoring eight points to go along with his team-leading 10 rebounds.
- The team's fought it out to a pretty even matchup with nine lead changes, five ties, and seven points being the largest lead for both squads.
- Saint Peter's won the in-game battles of points off of turnovers (14-13) and points in the paint (26-18); Canisius took the rebounding war (36-35), second chance points (12-11) and bench points (29-10).
- This was the first time since 2017-18 that the Peacocks were swept by the Griffs.
- After having defeated every team at least once last season, this was also the first series sweep against Saint Peter's since the 2018-19 campaign, additionally.
Up Next
Saint Peter's will look to bounce back when the team returns to Jersey City for a series against the Fairfield Stags on Friday and Saturday, Jan 8-9, with tip off at 8pm both nights.
