Buffalo, NY (January 20, 2005)- Behind career and game-highs of 25 points and 16 rebounds from freshman CJ Anderson, Manhattan tallied its first road conference win of the season, defeating Canisius, 86-77, tonight at the Koessler Athletic Center on the Canisius campus. The Jaspers improve to 9-6, 4-3 in MAAC play.
Freshman Jeff Xavier tallied 10 of Manhattan's first 20 points as the Jaspers raced out to a 20-14 lead over the first 5:41 of the game. Canisius rallied to knot the score at 26 with 9:53 left before the break. Manhattan responded by scoring the game's next six points and pushed the lead to as many as eight before heading into the break with a six point, 45-39, lead.
Anderson tallied 12 of his 25 points and nine of his 16 rebounds in the first half, matching Canisius' first half rebounding total. Both teams shot well in the first half, as the Jaspers converted 57.1% (20-35) of their first half shots, while the Golden Griffs connected on 51.7% (15-29) of their first half attempts.
Manhattan scored the first five points of the second half to push its lead to double digits, and led, 63-49, with 11:50 left in the game before Canisius used a 26-13 run to pull within one point, 76-75, capped by back-to-back three pointers from Jon Popofski with 1:42 remaining in the game.
Manhattan made nine of 11 free throws down the stretch and Canisius missed five of six shots down the stretch to provide the final margin.
Joining Anderson in double-figures were Peter Mulligan (22 points), Arturo Dubois (13 points, seven boards) and Xavier (13 points). Manhattan won the battle of the boards, posting a 43-29 advantage.
Popofski tallied a team-high 23 points while Kevin Downey scored 20 for Canisius.
The Jaspers return to action on Saturday, January 22, when Manhattan concludes the team's Western New York swing by battling MAAC foe Niagara at 2:00 p.m. in a MAAC TV game.