BUFFALO, N.Y. – Coming off its best shooting performance of the season, the Long Island University men’s basketball team shot a season-low 32.1 percent from the field and fell to Canisius, 76-63, at the Koessler Athletic Center on Saturday night. The Blackbirds were coming off a 50.9 percent shooting performance in a win over Army, but were unable to get untracked against the Golden Griffins.
Long Island (1-2) took its largest lead of the night on a three-pointer by sophomore Kyle Johnson (Ajax, Ontario) to make it 5-2. Four-straight points gave Canisius the lead before junior Aurimas Adomaitis (Kaunas, Lithuania) responded with a jumper in the lane to give LIU a 7-6 lead, but that was the last time the visitors were in front.
Canisius (1-2) used a 7-0 run late in the first half to build a 10-point cushion. The spurt was capped by a three-pointer from Thomas Vasquez-Simmons that made it 30-20 with 3:49 left in the half. A three-pointer from freshman Arnold Mayorga (London, Ontario) and a foul shot from freshman Michael Culpo (Pittsfield, Mass.) trimmed the deficit to six before Frank Turner converted a layup just before halftime to put Canisius up 34-26 at the break.
The Blackbirds rallied in the second half and after a layup from sophomore Ike Udanoh (Detroit, Mich.) was followed by a trifecta from Culpo, LIU was within 42-37. The Golden Griffins used an 8-1 run to build the lead back up to 13 points. A three-point play from Greg Logins made it 54-41 with 9:58 to play and the Blackbirds got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Culpo led Long Island with 13 points and Johnson chipped in with 11, but they were the only players in double-figures. Senior Ron Manigault (New York, N.Y.) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and narrowly missed a double-double with eight points.
LIU committed a season-low 13 turnovers, but were hamstrung at the foul line, shooting just 19-of-32 (.594) and from three-point range, going just 8-of-29 (.276).
Chris Gadley led the Golden Griffins with 22 points and eight rebounds. He was 8-of-10 from the field and hit a pair of three-pointers. Turner chipped in with 19 points as Canisius shot 46.3 percent from the floor and held a 42-34 edge in rebounding.
The Blackbirds return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 26, with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Saint Peter’s in Jersey City, N.J.