MAAC Monday: Canisius’ return to league play, stat leaders, power rankings

MAAC Monday returns for the first time in 2021 with a second team spotlight before updating the stat leaders and power rankings within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. After Monmouth was the first team to be profiled two weeks ago, the focus this week shifts to western New York, where a team deprived entirely of its non-conference schedule returned to action and ended the week on a positive note.

Competing for the first time since December 12, Canisius returned to the hardwood with a back-to-back series against Monmouth Sunday and Monday in West Long Branch. The Golden Griffins’ first game experience since the opening weekend of MAAC play — when the Griffs split a pair of contests in Buffalo against Marist — were marked by general shooting woes and the emergence of an offensive buzzsaw in King Rice’s Hawks, who recorded 84-66 and 97-69 victories in the process. A return to more familiar confines, though, did more than just salvage the start of league play.

Opening the new year by welcoming Saint Peter’s into the Koessler Athletic Center, Canisius unleashed an entirely different animal. Trailing 8-3 at the first media timeout, Reggie Witherspoon showcased more of a defense-oriented look to a team that has usually relied on its multitude of offensive options over the years. The change in tactics corresponded to an infusion of energy and offense through locking down the potent Peacock ensemble, outscoring the visitors by a 37-13 clip through the remainder of the opening stanza en route to a commanding 70-58 victory that both turned heads across the conference and spoke to the overwhelming parity in the MAAC despite a clear group of favorites existing on paper at the start of the season.

“That’s the thing that gets us going,” sophomore forward Jacco Fritz, who posted a double-double in Friday’s win with 14 points and 10 rebounds, said of Canisius’ emphasis on limiting its opposition. “We get stops on defense and then run from there. We got together as a team (after the Monmouth games) and said, ‘this is not going to happen again.’ Compared to last year, we’ve always been about our defense. We’ve got a quick team this year, so we can actually get stops on offense and then go off on defense.”

“My challenge to them is always for them to be awake, aware, alert and urgent,” Witherspoon expounded. “They may have hit those markers, but they needed to be a little bit more poised. I think that was one of the things that we may have done better. Being able to have that relaxed intensity, it just takes a while.”

The Griffs survived a closer, more physical affair 24 hours later, overcoming another torrid start by the Peacocks to prevail in a 63-60 triumph highlighted by 17 points from junior college import Ahamadou Fofana, who continues to grow into the point guard role left in need of filling after Malik Johnson’s graduation last spring.

“The difference is adjusting to the speed of the game,” Fofana remarked of the acclimation process after his All-American turn at Erie Community College, literally down the street from the Canisius campus. “Everybody at this level can play. You’ve just got to be able to come in and give your team what they want you to do. As for me, I’ve just got to control the game, run my team, and just be a good leader out there.”

“There’s so many more details involved,” Witherspoon added with regard to Fofana’s evolution into a Division I starter. “And for us, you recruit guys and you have a pretty good idea what they’re capable of, but then you’ve got to see what they’re capable of on this level, and he’s working his tail off to get that transition done. (Saturday), he was big for us. The free throws he made down the stretch were huge.”

Now even at 3-3 in MAAC play, Canisius gets another stern test this weekend when it travels east to Siena for a Friday-Saturday clash with the reigning regular season champion Saints, who returned to the court Sunday for the first time since last March’s MAAC tournament and debuted with a one-point win over Monmouth. When asked about the sweep of Saint Peter’s being a confidence builder for a group that had lost three straight to close 2020, Witherspoon was equal doses optimistic and pragmatic, hoping that the positive results to begin January grow to pay further dividends down the road.

“Hopefully it does build confidence from the standpoint where if we do what we’re supposed to do, with the intensity level we need to play, then we’ll have a chance,” he opined. “I hope it’s propelling us. COVID has taught us many things, but it’s taught us as soon as you get done with today, you’ve got to start preparing for tomorrow, and you don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring until you get to tomorrow. Hopefully it does help us in that we’ve learned the necessary effort, collectively, that it takes to give you just a chance to win.”

“It gives us a lot of momentum and confidence,” Fofana reiterated. “Coming from the two games against Monmouth, we didn’t come in with urgency and passion, so we just focused on that. We don’t want nobody to come in and play harder than us.”

Scoring Leaders

1) Isaiah Ross, Iona (22.2 PPG)

2) Jalen Pickett, Siena (20.0)

3) Deion Hammond, Monmouth (19.7)

4) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (18.8)

5) Marcus Hammond, Niagara (15.2)

6) George Papas, Monmouth (15.2)

7) Kyle Young, Siena (15.0)

8) Nick Hopkins, Siena (14.0)

9) Dwight Murray, Rider (13.7)

10) Elijah Buchanan, Manhattan (13.5)

Rebounding Leaders

1) Kyle Young, Siena (10.0 RPG)

2) Manny Camper, Siena (8.0)

3) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (7.5)

4) Fousseyni Drame, Saint Peter’s (7.4)

5) Malek Green, Canisius (7.0)

6) Dylan van Eyck, Iona (6.9)

7) Chris Maidoh, Fairfield (6.5)

8) Dwight Murray, Rider (6.3)

9) Jacco Fritz, Canisius (6.2)

10) Jordan Jones, Marist (6.1)

Assist Leaders

1) Jalen Pickett, Siena (6.0 APG)

2) Manny Camper, Siena (5.0)

3) Dwight Murray, Rider (4.4)

4) Matthew Lee, Saint Peter’s (4.2)

5) Asante Gist, Iona (4.2)

6) Samuel Chaput, Monmouth (3.7)

7) Savion Lewis, Quinnipiac (3.5)

8) Jacco Fritz, Canisius (3.2)

9) Kobi Nwandu, Niagara (3.1)

10) Caleb Green, Fairfield (3.1)

Field Goal Percentage Leaders

1) Jackson Stormo, Siena (.833)

2) Kyle Young, Siena (.714)

3) Brendan McGuire, Quinnipiac (.625)

4) Jordan Jones, Marist (.571)

5) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (.565)

6) Melik Martin, Monmouth (.529)

7) Fousseyni Drame, Saint Peter’s (.524)

8) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter’s (.514)

9) Christian Ings, Rider (.509)

10) George Papas, Monmouth (.508)

Free Throw Percentage Leaders

1) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (.935)

2) Taj Benning, Fairfield (.931)

3) Justin Roberts, Niagara (.917)

4) Ahamadou Fofana, Canisius (.889)

5) Dwight Murray, Rider (.853)

6) Ricardo Wright, Marist (.848)

T-7) Asante Gist, Iona (.818)

T-7) Elias King, Quinnipiac (.818)

9) Doug Edert, Saint Peter’s (.815)

10) Kobi Nwandu, Niagara (.800)

3-Point Field Goal Percentage Leaders

1) Brendan McGuire, Quinnipiac (1.000)

2) Nick Hopkins, Siena (.571)

3) Jalen Pickett, Siena (.500)

4) George Papas, Monmouth (.478)

5) Braden Bell, Marist (.462)

T-6) Tymu Chenery, Quinnipiac (.455)

T-6) Jordan Henderson, Canisius (.455)

T-8) Taj Benning, Fairfield (.429)

T-8) Anthony Nelson, Manhattan (.429)

10) Deion Hammond, Monmouth (.424)

Steal Leaders

1) Kyle Young, Siena (3.0 SPG)

2) Berrick JeanLouis, Iona (2.3)

T-3) Elijah Buchanan, Manhattan (2.0)

T-3) Nick Hopkins, Siena (2.0)

T-3) Jackson Stormo, Siena (2.0)

Blocked Shot Leaders

1) KC Ndefo, Saint Peter’s (3.6 BPG)

2) Seth Pinkney, Quinnipiac (3.0)

3) Jordan Jones, Marist (1.9)

4) Warren Williams, Manhattan (1.6)

5) Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona (1.5)

Power Rankings

1) Monmouth (3-3, 3-2 MAAC)

Last Week: 3

Last Game: Sunday 1/3 at Siena (L 78-77)

Next Game: Monday 1/4 at Siena, 5 p.m.

2) Siena (1-0, 1-0 MAAC)

Last Week: 5

Last Game: Sunday 1/3 vs. Monmouth (W 78-77)

Next Game: Monday 1/4 vs. Monmouth, 5 p.m.

3) Marist (6-2, 4-2 MAAC)

Last Week: 2

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 vs. Niagara (L 86-72)

Next Game: Saturday 1/9 at Monmouth, 2 p.m.

4) Iona (5-3, 3-1 MAAC)

Last Week: 4

Last Game: Wednesday 12/23 vs. Coppin State (W 85-65)

Next Game: 1/15 vs. Saint Peter’s, 6 p.m.

5) Saint Peter’s (6-5, 3-3 MAAC)

Last Week: 1

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 at Canisius (L 63-60)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 vs. Fairfield, 8 p.m.

6) Canisius (3-3, 3-3 MAAC)

Last Week: 8

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 vs. Saint Peter’s (W 63-60

Next Game: Friday 1/8 at Siena, 5 p.m.

7) Niagara (4-4, 3-3 MAAC)

Last Week: 6

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 at Marist (W 86-72)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 vs. Rider, 4 p.m.

8) Quinnipiac (2-2)

Last Week: 7

Last Game: Sunday 12/6 vs. New Hampshire (W 64-58)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 vs. Manhattan, 4 p.m.

9) Manhattan (2-3, 1-3 MAAC)

Last Week: 10

Last Game: Wednesday 12/30 at Delaware State (W 65-59)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 at Quinnipiac, 4 p.m.

10) Rider (2-7, 2-4 MAAC)

Last Week: 9

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 at Fairfield (L 72-56)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 at Niagara, 4 p.m.

11) Fairfield (2-9, 2-4 MAAC)

Last Week: 11

Last Game: Saturday 1/2 vs. Rider (W 72-56)

Next Game: Friday 1/8 at Saint Peter’s, 8 p.m.