Men's Basketball Beats Canisius 70-59 At Home

JERSEY CITY, NJ. - The Saint Peter's Men's Basketball team picked up its 10th win of the season over Canisius 70-59 on Sunday, at Run Baby Run Arena. This is the first time since the 2016-2017 season that Saint Peter's has swept Canisius.

Corey Washington led the Peacocks with 24 points, a team-high 9 rebounds, one assist, and two steals. It's the fifth game this season the SPU sophomore has dropped 20+ points.  Brent Bland scored a career-high 19 points. Bland shot an efficient 50% from the field, and from three point range. Bland went 6-12 from the field and 4-8 from three-point range. Latrell Reid scored 12 points, and distributed a team-high eight assists, five rebounds, with one steal. 

The Peacocks (10-6) improved to 6-1 in MAAC play. 

How it Happened

• Washington was hot out of the gate. The Arkansas native scored 12 of Saint Peter's first 24 points. The Peacocks led Canisius 22-12 following a Washington layup and-one. 

• The Griffins battled back in the first half. Down 31-24 Canisius went on a 7-0 run. A three-pointer from Tre Dinkins tied the game at 31-31. 

• Bland's third three-pointer of the game gave the Peacocks a 36-33 advantage. Canisius closed out the half with a pair of free throws, and Frank Mitchell scored a layup with 25 seconds left in the half. Saint Peter's trailed 37-36 at halftime. 

• The Peacocks went on an 8-0 run and  took the lead at the 16:31 mark in the second half. Reid assisted Bland on a layup which gave the Peacocks a  41-39 advantage. From that point on, the Peacocks never trailed for the rest of the game. 

• Three pointers from Bland and Washington extended Saint Peter's lead to 47-39. With 12:46 left in the game Saint Peter's led 51-41 after a Roy Clarke layup.

•  With under eight minutes, the Griffins cut the deficit down to five but Saint Peter's kept the Griffins at distance. Up 53-48, SPU scored seven of the next eight points in the game. Reid assisted Washington on a fast break layup and Saint Peter's led 61-49 with under five minutes.

• Not shortly after, Washington returned the favor to Reid. Washington forced a Griffins turnover with a steal and found Reid on a fast break. Reid slammed an emphatic dunk which extended the score to 63-51.

• Four free throws from Reid in the final forty seconds stamped the 70-59 victory. 

Inside the Numbers

• In both meetings between these two teams, Canisius led at halftime. Saint Peter's has won five games this season in which they've trailed at the half.

•  Saint Peter's outscored Canisius 26-16 in points in the paint. 

• The Peacocks forced 10 steals and scored 15 points off turnovers with 18 fast break points.

• Saint Peter's shot 50% from the field in the first half and 42.5% for the game. The Peacocks shot 24-57 from the field and 8-19 from three-point range (42.1%). 

• Mitchell grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.

• Williams scored a team-high 15 points for Canisius with three rebounds, one assist, and three steals. Dinkins scored 12 points with five assists and four rebounds. 

• With the win, SPU (10-6, 6-1 MAAC) is in second in the MAAC standings. 

Next, Saint Peter's (10-6, 6-1 MAAC) hosts Rider (5-13, 2-5 MAAC) on Thursday, Jan. 25 at Run Baby Run Arena. The game tips off at 7 PM and will be on ESPN+.

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