[Immediate reactions + Postgame interviews]

By Nick Veronica

FINAL: Canisius 90, Fairfield 78. 

1:56: Refs back at the monitor, looking at an out-of-bounds call. It’s reversed, ball to Canisius.

2:10: Griffs beat the press, all comes down to foul shooting now. Baron starts with two makes. Griffs 86-76.

2:17: Phil Valenti fouls out, 11 pts, 2 rebs in 16 minutes.

2:50: Baron draws a block on Marcus Gilbert, he fouls out with a game-high 26 pts.

2:58: Canisius up 82-72 at the U8. Sidibe got a rebound under the Fairfield hoop but was on the baseline. Griffs get the ball.

3:47: Lewis hits a 3 and Canisius is back up 10, 82-72. He has 19, Baron has 18.

4:06: Jordan Heath fouls out. 11 points, 2 rebounds in 21 minutes.

4:23: Fairfield’s Marcus Gilbert, who leads the game with 26 pts, picks up his fourth foul with 4:23 to go.

4:52: Bit of a lull here, lots of free throws. each way. 79-71 Griffs.

6:51: Chris Manhertz looks like he aggravated his hip or tailbone. He’s hurting in the front and back today.

7:25: Maurice Barrow picks up his fourth foul. Jordan Heath gets the layup but not the free throw. 77-71.

8:00: Stags have it back down to 4, 75-71.

9:46: Zach Lewis fakes his man up, goes under him and hits an open 3. 75-65.

10:19: Baron goes behind the back to Valenti, who hits a 3. 72-63 Griffs, biggest lead for them so far.

11:38: Baron gets a steal, throws a rocket, two-handed bounce pass to Perez, who gets a layup and one. Crowd love it. Griffs up 67-60 with a FT coming.

12:38: Jordan Heath hits from the line and its 62-57 Griffs, their largest lead of the day.

13:07: Billy Baron hits two FTs and Canisius is up three.

13:31: Manhertz gives to Jordan Heath, who puts Canisius up 56-55.

14:22: Total time lost due to incident: 19 minutes. Again, refs are Guy Pagano, Doug Aprahamian and Kevin Ferguson.

14:22: Amadou Sidibe is livid with Jordan Heath and starts a shoving match. Both coaches run onto the floor to grab their guys. Refs at monitor. … Jordan Heath was called for an offensive foul and accidentally kicked someone in the head when he tried to step over the guy and Sidibe took offense to that. The first shove might have been warranted, but he took it further. Couldn’t tell who Heath fouled initially. … First monitor wasn’t good enough for the refs, apparently, as they’ve come over to the Canisius broadcast and asked to see their feed. Never seen this before. (Griffs are down 51-47, by the way.)

15:19: Marcus Gilbert gets a three and is fouled by Valenti. He completes the four-point play. 51-47 Stags.

16:45: Big dunk from Chris Manhertz. 47-47.

17:09: It’s a 7-0 run to start the second half for Canisius, 45-45.

17:50: Jordan Heath puts up a three from Billy range, front rim no good.

18:30: Lewis hits from the line to make it 45-43.

18:46: Farifield takes timeout as Canisius cuts it to 45-41. It’s a lot colder in the gym this half.

19:45: The ball goes out of bounds under the basket and some kid in C-Block is REALLY excited he got to touch the ball. Big moment for him.

HALFTIME: Fairfield 45, Canisius 38. KJ Rose has 11, Phil Valenti leads the Griffs with 8. Baron has 6. Canisius leads the rebounding battle, 14-11. Manhertz has 5, Zach Lewis has 3 and the Heaths have 2 combined.

0.0: Baron’s three gets front rim and Fairfield leads 45-38 at the break.

1:28: Baron hits a long three is traffic. He only has 6 points so far. 

1:43: Fairfield’s lead is up to 12 at 45-33. The largest deficit Canisius has overcome this year is 11.

3:29: …so after facing their largest deficit, the Griffs come back on offense and Josiah Heath takes a jumper from the elbow. A low percentage shot if there ever was one. He’s getting better at those compared to last year, but man. Maybe Phil Valenti can teach him that one.

4:03: Maurice Barrow hits a three and its 43-33 Fairfield, largest lead of the game.

4:11: Refs at the monitor to see if Griffs get a new shot clock. …. They reset it.

4:40: KJ Rose did not call bank. But it counts, and Fairfield leads 40-33. Jim Baron calls timeout to get Billy back in.

5:16: Zach Lewis ends a 7-0 Fairfield run. Griffs are lost when Billy Baron isn’t on the court.

6:03: Stags have the lead back, up 35-31.

7:05: Raney drives and gets a layup to put the Griffs ahead 31-30 #raneytime

8:46: Technology is amazing:

9:01: Valenti draws the Griffs even at 25. Were down as many as 8.

10:00: A rare air ball from Baron gets put in by Valenti, but Maurice Barrow answers with a 3. Stags up 25-21.

10:34: Chris Manhertz goes to the floor for a loose ball, face mask and all. Griffs get it back on a jump ball. Bench yells “nice hustle, Chris.”

11:17: Phil Valenti gets a nice steal on D but throws away the lead pass for Baron.

11:32 Stags get an offensive rebound and catch an air ball before KJ Rose gets a layup. Can’t give up second-chance points, let alone third chance. Fairfield up 22-17 at the U12.

13:00: Phil Valenti throws an alley-oop pass and Jordan Heath throws it down.

13:23: Perez called for a walk, third one against Canisius. Empty possessions.

14:00: Fairfield’s not messing around. Everyone’s making shots. Stags up 20-12.

15:44: Manhertz called for his second travel already. Stags 12-9 at the U16.

16:30: Amadou Sidibe with an uncontested dunk. Manhertz responds with a fadeaway from the top of the key.

17:29: Billy Baron from deep. 8-7 Fairfield.

17:51: Manhertz misses under the hoop but gets his own rebound for a layup and one. FT short though. Stags up 6-4.

19:08: KJ Rose opens with a 3 for Fairfield, Jordan Heath answers with a turn-around jumper. 3-2.

20:00: Griffs start the usual, Lewis, Baron, Manhertz, Perez, Jordan Heath.

PREGAME: Refs today are Guy Pagano, Doug Aprahamian and Kevin Ferguson.

PREGAME: Welcome to the Koessler Athletic Center. Senior Day ceremonies will start at about 1:55 p.m. Chris Manhertz, Jordan Heath, Chris Perez and Billy Baron will be honored. (Again, disregard the team roster on ESPN. It’s wrong. Jordan Heath is not a junior.)

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