Box Score Buffalo N.Y. (March 1, 2024)—Mount St. Mary's dropped a tight-knit game at Canisius, 61-56, on Friday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.  Dakota Leffew led the Mount with 17 points while Joshua Reaves added 11 in the loss.  The Mountaineers fall to 12-17 overall and 8-10 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with the loss.

Trailing 48-42 in the second half, the Mount went on a 9-0 run to take the lead for the first time in the game.  Terrell Ard, Jr., started the run with a bucket in the paint, Leffew scored on a drive, and Dola Adebayo tied the score with a hook shot.  The Mount took the lead on a Leffew three-pointer with 8:50 left, forcing a Canisius timeout.  After the timeout, Devean Williams connected on a three to tie the score at 51-51.  The score remained there until Leffew drained a three with 4:58 on the clock to put the Mount back on top.

The Golden Griffins (12-15, 7-10 MAAC) responded with a Frank Mitchell basket, and then took the lead on a Tre Dinkins fade-away jumper with three and a half minutes left.  Another Mitchell basket made it 57-56 before Jedy Cordilia cut the deficit to 57-56 with 2:22 remaining.  Youri Fritz scored in the paint with just under two minutes left to make it a three-point game, setting up a wild next possession that saw the Mount miss four game-tying three-point attempts with George Tinsley collecting three offensive rebounds.  The Mount had the ball with 22 seconds left down 59-56, but turned the ball over.  The Mount defense then forced Canisius into a turnover on the inbounds, setting up Leffew for a chance to tie the score, but his fadeaway three from the left corner was short.  Canisius grabbed the board and TJ Gadsden was fouled with 5.9 seconds left.  He hit both free throws to seal the win.

Leffew, who missed the past two games with an injury, finished with 17 points, three rebounds and three assists.  Reaves was the only other Mountaineer in double figures with 11.  De'Shayne Montgomery added eight points, four rebounds and four assists while Tinsley collected a team-high eight boards.  Williams led Canisius with a career-high 20 points with Dinkins adding 16 points and six assists.  Mitchell had 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
 
The Mountaineers got off to a slow start in the game as Canisius built a 22-11 advantage midway through the first half.  Dinkins led the way for the Golden Griffins, scoring 12 points over that stretch.   The Mount got back into the game by rattling off a 9-0 run to trim the deficit to 22-20.  Jedy Cordilia scored in the paint to start the run, Montgomery hit a pair of free throws, Reaves drained a three, and Montgomery's jumper capped the spurt to make it a two-point game.

Canisius scored the next four points and went to the locker room with a 32-27 lead when TJ Gadsden converting a drive in the final seconds of the half.
The Mount shot just 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field in the first half while Canisius shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30). 

Up next, the Mount heads to Niagara for a 2:00 p.m. game on Sunday.