BUFFALO, NY - For the first time in 24 years, the Canisius University men’s basketball team scored a share of the MAAC regular season championship. The Golden Griffins rolled past Marist, 98-74, in the regular-season finale at the Koessler Athletic Center on February 25. The win secured a second-seed spot for the Griffs (behind Rider) in the MAAC Tournament – the best conference seeding for the Blue & Gold since 2001. No. 7 seeded Quinnipiac went on to upset the Griffs, 72-69, in quarterfinals play in Albany.
Still, the MAAC regular season victory improved Canisius’ record to 21-10 overall and 15-3 in MAAC play. The 21-win season matches the program record for wins in a regular season. The 1993-94 edition of the Griffs also won 21 games en route to the program’s first MAAC regular season crown. The 15 league wins this year mark a new program record. It also earned the Griffins a bid to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
The Golden Griffin ice hockey team also skated into the postseason after defeating Niagara, 3-2, in the regular-season finale. The win secured the Griffs a second place standing in the Atlantic Hockey Conference and a No. 2 seed in the league’s postseason tournament. The Griffs defeated AIC in a best-of-three playoff series March 9-11, which earned the Blue and Gold a trip to the AHC semifinal round for the fifth time in the last six seasons. While Canisius saw its season end in the semifinals with a loss to eventual league champion Air Force on March 16, junior forward Dylan McLaughlin was named the Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year, the third player in program history to win that honor. McLaughlin was also named a Hobey Baker Award Top1-10 Finalist, prior to the start of the conference's semifinal game. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award, college hockey's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy, is the highest award an NCAA Division I hockey player can receive.
