Basketball

The Crusaders fell to Bishop Timon 62-56 in the Monsignor Martin semifinals on Thursday, ending their excellent season.

The team started their week with a 75-57 victory over Nichols in the quarterfinals. Max Dowling ‘21 led the offense with 26 points while collecting ten rebounds for a double-double. Adding to the scoring, Shane Cercone ‘23 had 15 points while Joe Ciocca ‘21 and Eric Geisler ‘21 each added 13. On defense, Malik Jamison ‘21 contributed five steals.

In the semifinals, Canisius got off to a slow start offensively. It seemed a lid was on the basket for the Crusaders for most of the first quarter, and they were down 20-4 after the period. Coming out of the huddle, the squad started to click. Geisler sparked the offense with back-to-back three-pointers, and a streak of excellent Crusader shooting brought the deficit down to ten at the half.

The scoring spree continued into the second half, and Canisius trailed only 48-44 after the third quarter. Then, Dowling scored five straight points to start the final quarter, converting his third three-pointer of the game before working on his defender for another two, and the Crusaders took the lead for the first time in the matchup. Next, the two opponents traded points before Timon eventually took a four point advantage with just over three minutes remaining. Dowling eventually brought the game within two points after a mid-range field goal with just over one minute left, but Jamyier Patton and Kamar Goudelock layups clinched the victory for the Tigers.

Dowling had another dominant performance against Timon with 19 points while Cercone and Geisler contributed 15 and 13, respectively. Additionally, Cercone led the team in rebounds with nine, and Geisler added three steals.

Despite the unfortunate playoff loss, the Crusader basketball program recorded another fantastic season, finishing with a 13-4 overall record.

Fed Hockey

Canisius shut out St. Joe’s 3-0 to conclude their regular season, completing a season sweep against their rivals in the process. Spencer DiLeo ‘21 set up a Luke Braun ‘22 goal in the first period. Reversing roles, DiLeo scored off of a Braun assist in the second. Then, to finish the scoring, Dan Urban ‘22 scored on a slap shot early in the third period. Defensively, John Susz ‘21 earned the shutout in net.

The squad is now 9-2-1 as they face St. Mary’s in the semifinals at 7:15pm on Thursday before, hopefully, advancing to the finals at 7pm on Friday.

Club Hockey

The Crusaders fell to St. Joe’s 3-0 in their lone game of the week. They look to bounce back against St. Mary’s this week.

Fall II Sports

Games from the Fall II season begin this week. The football team kicks off its season against St. Joe’s on Saturday at 1pm at home. The volleyball squad takes on O’Hara and St. Joe’s before facing St. Francis twice.

Go Crusaders!

***With limited spectators allowed, Canisius is live streaming as many games as possible at canisiushigh.org/live. Upcoming football streams: 1:00pm Saturday vs St. Joe’s. Hockey streams: 7:15pm Thursday vs St. Mary’s (semifinals), 7pm Friday in the finals (if win). 

Photo by Jacob Hanesworth '22: Spencer DiLeo '21