(Park's Noah Hutchins finishes a fast break against Canisius/Photo: Larry Scheur)
Whether they are fair or unfair, no team in WNY has higher expectations placed on them than Park. Despite being a very young team without a single senior on the roster, anything less than a win each time they take the court falls under heavy scrutiny. Often times their wins seem to get analyzed under a microscope. Sometimes it seems the only way they meet expectations is when the scoreboard reflects a dominant performance. In Tuesday night's rematch with Canisius, the Pioneers met every expectation.
Balanced scoring, along with a strong close to both the half and the game led to a 72-44 win for Park over the visiting Crusaders. The Pioneers earned a regular season sweep of Canisius with the victory and remain one game behind St. Francis for first place among large schools in the Monsignor Martin Association.
"Against a team that great you need to do things perfect," Canisius coach Kyle Husband said. "There were too many possessions where we didn't execute the little things."
Park seemed to capitalize every time the Crusaders weren't perfect and it came in the form of scoring in bunches. The Pioneers opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run and then finished the half with an identical blitz, as they outscored the visitors 20-6 in the frame. It broke open a one-point game after eight minutes and gave them a 39-24 lead by halftime.
Another area when the Pioneers played to their strength was on the glass. With a decided advantage in rebounding that nearly doubled the total boards collected by the Crusaders, Park was finding its way to missed shots all evening. Joe Jones led the glass cleaners with 11 boards.
"We've been working at getting better on the boards and consistently boxing out," said Park coach Michael Battaglia.
Noah Hutchins and Dan Scott each scored 14 points to lead a balanced Pioneers attack that shared the ball all evening. Brandon Smith connected on three 3-pointers in the game and finished with 13 points. Julian Eziukwu came off the bench to record 12 points, while Marques Lowe and Jones added eight and seven points respectively.
Canisius was highly competitive in the opening quarter, leading nearly the entire way. Jack Collins got the start for the Crusaders and hit a pair of triples, while Colby Moultrie and Nick MacDonald (9 points) each added a bomb from beyond the arc. After falling behind in the second quarter, they emerged from halftime once again carefully playing every possession. Late in the third quarter, they had trimmed the deficit to 43-31, before a three-point play from Jones and a bucket by Scott got Park back to a comfortable advantage.
"They play very hard and have an impressive, well thought out offense that gets guys shots," Battaglia said.
Ryan Bradley led all scorers in the game with 20 points. The 6-7 Crusader junior was aggressive all evening, showed the ability to get to the basket, hit a 3-pointer, and really played well defensively against bigger competition in the paint.
"That was the best I've ever seen him play, he's really improved," said Battaglia. "He can shoot, go to the hole, and plays defense."
"I couldn't be happier with the effort I got from him for 32 minutes tonight," Husband said. "I know he'll keep building on that. If he does, he'll be a special player moving forward."
With two weeks left before the Manhattan Cup playoffs begin and a title to defend, the Crusaders hope that another tough loss to Park provided some lessons about what it will take to past a Pioneers team that has handled them twice this season.
"We weren't tough enough tonight to do that consistently for four quarters," said Husband. "That's what we need to learn how to do consistently before the playoffs get here."
Park visits St. Francis in the 'Game of the Week' on Friday night looking to avenge a double-overtime loss, while Canisius hosts rival St. Joe's.
Canisius 18 - 6 - 9 - 11 = 44
Park 19 - 20 -9 - 24 = 72
Point Totals
Park: Noah Hutchins 14, Dan Scott 14, Brandon Smith 13, Julian Eziukwu 12, Marques Lowe 8, Joe Jones 7, Quentin Nnagbo 4
Canisius: Ryan Bradley 20, Nick MacDonald 9, Jack Collins 6, Colby Moultrie 5, Joe Jamison 2, Patrick Weir 2
- centercourt
Where was Johnson and James for canisius?
Posted by: hsbballfan | Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 01:05 PM
Canisius dynasty over for good?
Posted by: balll1234 | Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 02:52 PM
Hear they are ineligible. Definitely made a difference. Park is great but do not show up always when it counts. Bad coaching? No leadership? Selfishness?
Nonetheless, MMA is wide open for the taking!
Posted by: Billy Hoyle | Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 05:24 PM
Ouch
Posted by: Tap | Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 07:03 PM
Does MMA have a web site that has current standings, stats etc.?
Posted by: CloseOut | Wednesday, February 08, 2017 at 08:18 PM
I've seen the Twitter account @MonsignorMartin tweet standings.
Posted by: centercourt | Thursday, February 09, 2017 at 01:56 PM