Reese's eruption, 19 forced turnovers help Canisius surge past Manhattan

Isaiah Reese scored all of his 22 points after halftime as Canisius rallied to defeat Manhattan, remaining in first-place tie atop MAAC standings. (Photo by The Canisius Griffin)

RIVERDALE, NY -- In recent times, Canisius has ranked at or near the top of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with its dynamic offense and multifaceted scorers, but it had always been the defense that was the primary obstacle in the Golden Griffins' path to a conference championship.

Almost halfway through the league season, the Buffalo outfit has kept their firepower on the scoreboard amid noticeable roster turnover, but the question mark that has long plagued their prospects took its latest evolutionary step Friday evening.

Forcing 12 of their 19 takeaways after halftime against a Manhattan team renowned for its own defensive pressure, Canisius was able to beat the Jaspers at their own game, preying on miscues and riding the hot hand of Isaiah Reese, who scored all of his game-high 22 points in the second half to break a stalemate open en route to a 68-59 victory at Draddy Gymnasium.

"I think it's huge for us," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said of the defensive effort as the Griffs (12-8, 6-1 MAAC) kept pace with Iona atop the MAAC standings in their last tuneup before facing the Gaels Sunday with a regular-season sweep on the line. "We work on it, we talk about it every day, There's some things we do every day that enhance our ability to come out and play defense, and it also helps when you have a roster full of guys that are very versatile, and defensively, can guard a lot of positions. That's been an area that we've made pretty good strides in."

It was a tale of two halves in the northwest corner of the Bronx, as Canisius opened the game to the strains of freshman Takal Molson scoring all but two of the visitors' first dozen points. He would be held to just four markers for the remainder of the night as Manhattan's vaunted strategy of turning defense into offense took root midway through the opening stanza, seizing the lead on an 8-0 run to go up 16-14 with just over seven minutes remaining before halftime. The Jaspers (9-10, 4-3 MAAC) would maintain the lead for most of the final stretch before the intermission, expanding it to as many as six points before ultimately taking a 28-27 cushion into the locker room after Jermaine Crumpton's two foul shots made the game a one-point affair after 20 minutes.

The hosts held serve through the opening exchange out of the halftime break until Reese found his groove, doing so in an emphatic fashion. The sophomore's first basket, a three-pointer with 15:55 remaining in regulation, tied the score at 34 apiece, and started an 11-0 Canisius run that saw him hit an additional two shots from distance to give the Griffs a lead they would never relinquish. Manhattan clawed back within single digits entering the final four minutes, but Reese fittingly slammed the door with a pull-up triple from the edge of the Jaspers' logo for a de facto exclamation point.

"Reese hit three threes that were just, really, momentum killers, and they were from really deep," a straightforward Steve Masiello assessed, surmising one of the game's turning points. "There's nothing you could do about that, but if you turn the ball over as much as we did, it's tough."

In the near-miss, Pauly Paulicap led the Jaspers with 17 points and six blocked shots, while Rich Williams contributed 12 points and seven rebounds, but it was Reese; who added six rebounds, six steals and four assists to his latest stat-stuffing escapade, that emerged as the lasting impression while matching the Griffs' season high for most points scored in a half.

"I've got teammates that, when we go in the locker room, they talk to me a lot," Reese said, crediting a team-wide commitment that also revealed itself in 22 assists on 24 made field goals. "They encourage me and tell me to keep my head up, and they just motivate me to come out and have a strong half."