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Buffalo, NY (WGR550) -- The Canisius Golden Griffins rode the hot hands of Isaac Sosa and Billy Baron to an 87-74 win over the Alcorn State Braves on Thursday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.
The Griffs could not pull away from Alcorn State in the opening half, thanks to stifling defense and up tempo action at both ends of the court. Canisius jumped out to an early 8-2 lead over the Braves, with Baron and Sosa hitting early three point baskets for the team.
The Braves did put a scare into the fans assembled at Koessler with an 11-0 run midway through the first half, and opened up an 18-12 lead at the time. However, Canisius scored 8 of the next 10 points in the half to draw even, 20-20 at the 8:47 mark. Marquiz Baker led Alcorn State in scoring in the first with 9 points in 19 minutes of action.
The Griffs closed out the half strong, after trading baskets for several minutes. Canisius rattled off a 13-3 run, capped off by five straight points by Sosa, to take a 37-27 lead with just under two minutes to play in the half. Both Sosa and Baron closed out the opening half in double digits scoring. Baron made three free throws after drawing a foul as time expired to give the Griffs a 44-32 lead, and running his first half total to 10 points. Meanwhile Sosa led the Griffs offensively with 16 points in the opening twenty minutes.
The Griffs closed out the half strong, after trading baskets for several minutes. Canisius rattled off a 13-3 run, capped off by five straight points by Sosa, to take a 37-27 lead with just under two minutes to play in the half. Both Sosa and Baron closed out the opening half in double digits scoring. Baron made three free throws after drawing a foul as time expired to give the Griffs a 44-32 lead, and running his first half total to 10 points. Meanwhile Sosa led the Griffs offensively with 16 points in the opening twenty minutes.
The two teams played a fairly clean opening half, with Canisius committing six fouls and the Braves nine. However, Alshwan Hymes received a technical foul late in the first for arguing with an official during an Alcorn State free throw attempt. Hymes was charged with a personal foul on the play, and then assessed the technical for arguing moments later.
Jordan Heath helped the Griffs hold a 20-10 rebounding edge in the first. They also controlled the offensive boards with a 7-2 edge, which was a key to the team's 11-0 advantage in second chance scoring in the first. Heath also added 4 points and 2 assists in 15 minutes of play.
Canisius opened the second half much like they did the first, by scoring the first two baskets and opening up a 48-32 lead over Alcorn State. The lead did not dip below 11 points at any time of the half. It ballooned to 20 points with just over six minutes to go in the game, thanks to hot shooting from behind the arc. Hymes, Baron and Reggie Groves each hit three pointers in three straight possessions, and Heath added a shot from the field to make the lead 20. The largest Canisius lead of the night was 26 points, 79-53 with 4:33 to play in the game. The Braves scored 12 straight points late to cut the Canisius lead, but it was not enough.
The Griffins finished the night shooting 48.2% (27-56) from the field in the game, after shooting 50% (14-28) in the first half. Harold Washington did not attempt a shot in the game, recording just 2 assists and 1 rebound in 20 minutes. Head coach Jim Baron told the media following the game that the guard was bothered by a foot or heel problem. Baron was not sure if the injury occurred in the game, or during practice.
Baker led Alcorn State in scoring with 30 points in 39 minutes of play. Anthony Nieves contributed 20 points in the losing effort as well. Four different Griffins racked up double digit point totals. Sosa finished the game with a team-high 21 points, while Billy Baron notched 19, Heath knocked in 14, and Chris Manhertz scored 11 points. Heath and Manhertz also accounted for 15 of the team's 41 rebounds in the game. Canisius outrebounded the Braves 41-25.
Canisius travels to Detroit on Sunday for their final game of 2012. It is a three o'clock tipoff that you can hear on our sister station, AM-1400 WWWS.
Twitter: @PatWGR
Twitter: @PatWGR