(Photo by Dave DeLuca / Follow @ByDaveDeLuca)

 

When I got home last night, I was asked if the game went how I thought it would go.  After hesitating for a moment, I had my response.  Maybe not exactly how I thought it would go, I said, but it went exactly how I hoped it would go.  The two most talented rosters in WNY both showed off their 'A' games.  Both teams built 10-point leads – Park did it early (2nd quarter) and Canisius did it later (4th quarter). A massive, overflow crowd turned out and infused the game with even more energy.  And with left 1:01 on the game clock, the game tied.  That's all I wanted from the highly anticipated showdown between #1 & #1.  What more could you really ask for?

 

The Crusaders closed the game on an 8-0 run after LaTerrance Reed broke a tie game with one minute remaining, as Canisius handed Park a 70-62 loss before a standing-room only crowd at the Bernard J. Kennedy Field House on Tuesday night.  With the victory, the Crusaders cap a third straight regular season as undefeated Monsignor Martin champions.

 

"The win, the season, is certainly a great start to what we want to accomplish", Canisius coach Kyle Husband said.

 

While the Crusaders took away a great start to the rest of their season, it was Park that got off to a great start in the game.  The Pioneers never trailed in the first half, and seemingly couldn't miss in the opening quarter.  During one stretch early on, Park connected from beyond the arc on three straight possessions and led 15-6 less than four minutes in.  Jordan Nwora had the early hot hand, stroking three first quarter treys, throwing down a two-handed dunk in transition, and ending the stanza with 13 points, as Park took a 26-16 lead after one.

 

"Obviously this game meant a lot to everybody in the area, especially the 12 guys in the locker room", Husband said.  "I could see it in their eyes yesterday in practice and then before the game".

 

"For some reason, that doesn't translate into the first quarter for us, but we settled down and locked back in", said Husband.

 

Kyle Harris pushed the Pioneers lead to their largest of the game, 28-16, to start the second quarter, before Canisius made its first push.  An 8-0 Crusader run trimmed the Park lead to three points.  With the game getting tight nearing two minutes before halftime, Derek Cheatom swished a '3' for Park and just 20 seconds later, Nwora bombed another in, making it 38-29.  The final 90 seconds of the half were key for the Crusaders, as buckets from Reed, Josh Huffman, and Stafford Trueheart got the top ranked school in WNY back to within three, 38-35, at the break.

 

The most dominant frame from either team came in the third quarter from Canisius.  That's when Reed, who finished with a game-high 28 points (along with four rebounds, four steals, & three dimes), began to heat up and take over.  Reed scored 21 of his game-high total in the second half, with 10 coming in the third.  Reed, Huffman, & Trueheart combined for all the Crusader points in the third, an 18-6 stanza, as Canisius took a 53-44 advantage into the fourth.

 

Hunter Anderson opened the scoring for Park in the fourth and Reed answered with a trey for Canisius, giving them its largest lead of the game, 56-46.  Less than two minutes later, it was back to a one-point game.  The Pioneers got three consecutive 3-pointers, all from the same spot, and all from Harris, and with 5:35 left, the Crusader lead was 56-55.

 

Four points from Trueheart, who finished with 15 for the game, extended the Crusader lead back to 60-55 with 4:41 left.  But then over the next three minutes, Canisius struggled to find offense, as Park chipped away at the deficit.  Randy Golda led a 7-2 push for Park, and after his two free throws went in with 1:19 remaining, the big game was all knotted up once again, 62-62.  

 

When the clock struck exactly one minute remaining, Reed struck for the Crusaders to give them the go ahead basket.  It turned out to be the game winner.  Over the final 26 seconds, Reed hit all four of his free throws, and Huffman added a pair to seal the victory for Canisius.

 

Nwora finished with 16 points for Park, while Harris and Anderson each scored 15 points.

 

-centercourt