Both Canisius and Niagara opened their 2021-22 seasons with mounting challenges on Tuesday night.  The Golden Griffins, who took their talents to South Beach, gave their Atlantic Coast Conference foe a test, but ultimately fell to Miami 77-67.  The Purple Eagles nearly opened their season with an upset of Xavier but came just three points short in a 63-60 defeat. 

MIAMI 77  CANISIUS 67

• The Golden Griffins got 21 points from Malek Green as the senior forward went 7-11 from the floor, while also securing a team-high eight rebounds.  It was his first career start.
• Canisius stayed in the game throughout despite shooting 41.4 percent from the floor and 23.8 percent from beyond the arc.  Miami also shot under 50 percent (48.3) and just 29.4 percent from three.
• The Hurricanes edged the Golden Griffins on the glass, 42-31, and had 11 offensive rebounds to Canisius’ 7.
• Former Erie Community College guard Ahamadou Fofana scored six points in 29 minutes for Canisius.  He also had five rebounds and two assists.
• Miami got 20 points and 10 rebounds from Kameron McGusty, a sixth-year redshirt senior guard.  He was one of four players in double-figures for Miami.  It was McGusty’s third career double-double.
• Canisius was able to keep the deficit in single digits throughout the entire game until the final minutes when Miami used a late 17-4 run to gain separation.

XAVIER 63  NIAGARA 60

• Niagara’s Marcus Hammond scored a game-high 25 points and made four threes, while also securing six rebounds.  
• Noah Thomasson was also in double-figures for Niagara with 11 points. 
• As a team, Niagara shot just 39.6 percent from the floor but held Xavier to 37.5 percent and 29.6 percent from three.  Xavier was able to out-rebound Niagara 39-31, which included 11 offensive boards.
• Niagara never led.  Xavier’s biggest lead was 13 which came early in the second half.  They were up 12 with 7:11 left, but NU used a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to four with 3:05 left.
• Paul Scruggs had a team-high 17 points and six assists for Xavier.

CANISIUS NEXT: Friday, November 12^th at East Carolina (7:00 PM, ESPN+)

NIAGARA NEXT: Friday, November 12^th at No. 17 Ohio State (7:00 PM, B1G+)