BUFFALO, N.Y. — Black Friday featured two area college basketball programs in action, with the Canisius men and Niagara women playing in Thanksgiving week tournaments.
Canisius 76, Wofford 67
The Golden Griffins led by as much as 27 in the second half, before the Terriers rallied to get within four with under a minute to go. Canisius managed to hang on though for the win in Quebec at the Northern Classic, moving Reggie Witherspoon's team to 3-2 on the season.
The Griffs had four players score in double figures, led by Sam Uijtendaal's 19 points and TJ Gadsden's 17 points. Uijtendaal stuffed the stat sheet, adding nine rebounds and an impressive seven steals. Tre Dinkins, averaging 15.8 points on the season, had his lowest scoring output so far with four points, but impacted the game as a facilitator, delivering a team-high five assists.
Canisius will have two more games in Laval this weekend, facing Western Kentucky on Saturday and Bowling Green on Sunday.
No. 7 LSU 99, Niagara 65
The Purple Eagles faced a tall task down in the Cayman Islands going up against the defending champion LSU Tigers. Even without star player Angel Reese, the 7th-ranked team in the country had plenty of firepower as Aneesah Morrow's 28 points and 10 rebounds, and Hailey Van Lith's 20 points propelled LSU to the victory.
Niagara actually outscored LSU by eight in the final frame, but it was the second quarter that put the Purple Eagles in a deep hole, with a 32-13 advantage for the Tigers in that quarter giving them a 33-point lead at halftime. Chardonnay Hartley finished the game as the Purple Eagles' leading scorer with 18 points while Destiny Strother also finished in double figures with 11 points.
The weekend doesn't get any easier for Niagara, as it will now face No. 2 UCLA on Saturday.
