(Tournament MVP Josh Huffman goes up strong in the final vs. MacNab)

 

To honor the late Tom Keenan, the former Dean of Students and head basketball coach who led the team to three consecutive Manhattan Cup titles in the 90's, Canisius hosts an annual tournament in his name.  The Tom Keenan Memorial Tournament is held in December each season and features high-level teams from out of the area.  This season's lineup included a pair of teams from NYC, Nazareth and Fordham Prep, along with Ontario power Sir Allan MacNab, currently ranked #17 in Canada.  The Crusaders entered this season as the two-time defending champions of this event.  Now, it's a three-peat.

 

Josh Huffman stroked a pair of free throws with 8.1 seconds remaining in the tournament title game, for the go-ahead points that secured the Crusaders' 77-73 victory over Sir Allan MacNab, making Canisius the champions of the event for a third straight season.  Huffman, who finished with 17 points, was awared Tournament MVP after a strong showing as a defender, facilitator, and scorer in both games of the event.

 

Canisius trailed the Canadian power after one quarter, when MacNab came out firing and connected on four opening-quarter treys, and also converted a pair of three-point plays to account for 18 of its 22 points.  They closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run, much to the chagrin of Canisius coach Kyle Husband.  When MacNab got the second quarter started with another 3-pointer to take a 25-16 lead, Canisius needed a way to stop the momentum.  It came in the form of creating its own.  Will Atkinson came off the bench to drill a pair from downtown, and Stafford Trueheart got involved as well, adding five points to what would be a 17-4 Crusader surge.  

 

After taking a one-point lead into the locker room, Canisius maintained its advantage the entire third quarter.  However, the Crusaders, who were leading by eight points, once again allowed a late-quarter run by MacNab and clinged to that same one-point advantage with just eight minutes remaining.

 

Canisius did relinquish the lead once in the the fourth quarter, but never trailed over the final six minutes.  The were unable to pull away, however, which led to the down-to-the-wire finish – ultimately pulled out by the Crusaders.  Madut Ayiy scored a pair of critical buckets in the final minutes, along with securing some timely rebounds, as Canisius was without Trueheart at the end after he fouled out.

 

Trueheart had a game-high 19 points in the final, while Justin Jones scored 13 points.

 

Canisius reached the final by taking care of business against Fordham Prep on Friday, 69-43, a game the Crusaders never trailed in.  Trueheart (18 points) had some nice dunks in the season-opener and St. Joe's transfer, Jones (12 points) looked strong in his Delaware Avenue debut.

 

LaTerrance Reed, who can fill up the rim with the best of them, scored 21 points total in the two games, seemed focused on moving the ball and being a floor general.

 

Canisius hosts Bishop Kearney at 6:30 pm on Tuesday night, before taking on Jamestown this Saturday in the AdPro Challenge.

 

-centercourt