FINAL: Canisius wins, 69-55.

48.2: Valenti down with 48.2 left. Huge gash over his eye. Butterfly bandages are a friend. If that’s the last for him, he had a heck of a game. A flagrant-1 assessed.

1:00: Griffs lead by 10 with a minute to go, 64-55.

2:03: Baron with a fade away dagger. 63-55.

3:18: Zach Lewis misses a 3 but — guess who — Valenti is there for the lay-in.

3:51: McCrea picks up his fourth as Heath draws a charge. Hurley is furious. Phil Valenti is suddenly on a tear. Griffs lead 59-55.

5:02: Valenti takes an ill-advised shot, but draws a foul on Regan. He hits both this time to make it 57-53.

5:43: Baron (finally) hits some free throws, giving Canisius its first lead of the night at 55-53.

6:19: Perez beats Oldham again. That’s a mismatch. 53-53.

7:02: Billy misses a three from Jimmy Baron range, but Valenti fouled on the rebound. He misses both. Griffs are brutal from the line.

7:21: Perez beats Oldham to tie it at 51.

7:55: Oldham misses a trey on UB’s possession. Canisius will inbound on offense after the U8 timeout.

8:21: Hurley takes timeout as a Baron layup makes it 51-49 UB. This is Canisius’ shot to come back.

8:48: Perez lays it in to cut it to 51-47.

10:19: McCrea and Jordan Heath check back in.

11:13: Valenti gets a layup for what I believe is Canisius’ first fast-break bucket of the night. 49-43.

11:23: Manhertz picks up his third foul. Skeete misses the both though.

11:52: Valenti hits one of two free throws to make it 49-41. Next UB foul gets Canisius in the bonus.

12:20: McCrea checks out with his third foul but UB still scoring.

12:52: Every time Canisius is close, UB comes back with a big shot or three. That generally helps. 47-40.

14:42: Raney still struggling from the field. Passing may be a good idea.

15:20: Jordan Heath picks up his second foul while guarding McCrea. Griffs have cut it to five at 42-37.

16:53: Baron gets a shooter’s bounce on a 3 to cut it to 39-33, but Regan answers with a trey.

17:47: McCrea backs down Manhertz and get an and-1. He misses the FT, UB up 39-28.

19:39: Perez scores on Canisius’ first possession. He can out-muscle Jarryn Skeete. That’s a matchup worth attacking.

Manhertz-McCrea watch: Neither had a great half, but McCrea got involved on offense in the second 10 minutes of half and has 7 points on 3 of 7. Manhertz has the edge in rebounds, five to one, but is 1 of 4 shooting with a few forced looks. The big thing for Manhertz though is only one foul.

HALFTIME STATS: Canisius is 10 of 30 from the field and even worse from the free-throw line, hitting 2 of 7. UB is 14 of 27 shooting and has points from eight different players. Billy Baron and Chris Perez are 7 for 15. All other Griffs are 3 for 17.

HALF: Griffs get a turnover but Perez’s half-court heave is way off. UB leads 25-26 at halftime.

21.4: Nope, Griffs return the favor. UB holds for last shot.

50.9: UB throws away an inbounds pass. Canisius trying to cut a 35-26 defect before half.

1:54: McCrea called for an offensive foul, and Manhertz goes to the line. He misses the first of a 1-and-1.

2:37: Raney throws up an awful alley-oop pass for Jordan Heath, who lands out of bounds. Raney puts up the soccer hand to say ‘my bad.’ He checks out for Williams.

3:51: Perez misses both free throws. Yuck. Needed to cash in some make-up call points.

3:51: A cheap third foul called on Josiah Heath, and UB given two fouls in the next 20 seconds. Make. Up.

4:59: Heath with threes on back-to-back possessions. If they have to come out more to guard him, that may open more lanes for Canisius inside. Xavier Ford guarding Manhertz. UB up 30-24.

7:00: Too easy for UB on the inbounds play. McCrea with a slam. Manhertz picks up his first foul.

7:09: UB leads 25-18. Griffs struggling with field goals, only 7 for 23. Baron leads all players with 10. He should shoot more.

8:15: Manhertz finally gets one to fall, going up with his left. Xavier Ford answers right back.

8:55: Layups are not falling for Canisius. Heath hits 1 of 2 from the line to make it 23-16 UB. UB switching up defenders on Baron.

10:04: A put-pack slam for McCrea is his first basket of the game. Bulls up 21-14.

10:29: Canisius turnover leads to a UB 3-on-0. Easy lay-in.

11:39: UB leads 14-12. Baron has 10, Perez has 2, all other Griffs are 0-for-7.

12:20: UB’s Xavier Ford had a long sleeve shirt on because it’s so cold in the FNC, but he’s asked to take it off. Can’t have long sleeves.

13:30: With McCrea guarding Heath, Canisius can essentially have Jordan hang out on the three-point line, where he can shoot from, and draw UB’s best defender away from the basket.

14:16: Regan and Freelove hit treys to answer Baron’s. UB 12-6.

15:09: Well, we’re still not sure. Ball back in play, UB up 6-3.

15:09: Refs ask the replay officials to see the entire last possession. Not sure what they’re looking for.

15:42: First media timeout, UB leads 6-3. Griffs 1-10 shooting.

16:24: Baron’s catch-and-shoot 3 end Canisius’ drought. 4-3.

17:28: Oldham hits a free throw for the first point of the game. Raney has missed three shots for Canisius. 1-0.

19:30: Both teams going man to start. Manhertz on McCrea when UB has the ball. UB going with McCrea on Heath, Regan on Manhertz.

20:00: Canisius’ 6-9 Jordan Heath wins the tip against UB’s 6-7 Javon McCrea and we’re underway.

20:00: Griffs start Baron, Raney, Perez, Manhertz and Jordan Heath. UB goes with McCrea, Skeete, Oldham, Freelove and Regan. Tip to come.

Pregame: A reminder, the Vegas line for tonight is UB -3.5.

Pregame: If you’re looking for some Twitter action during the game, I recommend this list for Canisius basketball: https://twitter.com/NickVeronica/lists/canisius-mbb

Pregame: Niagara beat Davidson, 83-72, in the first game of the doubleheader. Antoine Mason, the nation’s leading scorer, was held to 2 points in the first half but finished with 21 on 4 of 10 shooting, aided by 12 points from the free-throw line. Mason’s scoring average drops from 29.4 to 28.6, but that will still have him atop the NCAA. The Purple Eagles improve to 3-8. Canisius-UB will get underway at about 8:45.

Pregame: Hello from the First Niagara Center. No way Canisius and UB will get underway on time (scheduled for 8 p.m.). The second half of Niagara-Davidson didn’t start until 7:07. In the meantime, check out today’s gameday blog for a rundown of what to look for tonight in Canisius vs.

Follow @nickveronica