2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team represented Canisius College in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Griffins, led by fifth-year head coach Reggie Witherspoon, played their home games at the Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the season 7–6, 7–5 in MAAC play, to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the MAAC tournament, they lost in the first round to No. 11 seed Rider 76–78.

2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	7–6 (7–5 MAAC)
Head coach	Reggie Witherspoon (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Chris Hawkins Thurman Schaetzle Calvin Cage
Home arena	Koessler Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 MAAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Siena	12	–	4		.750			12	–	5		.706
Monmouth	12	–	6		.667			12	–	8		.600
Saint Peter's	10	–	8		.556			14	–	11		.560
Marist	10	–	8		.556			12	–	9		.571
Niagara	7	–	9		.438			9	–	11		.450
Canisius	7	–	5		.583			7	–	6		.538
Fairfield	7	–	11		.389			10	–	17		.370
Quinnipiac	7	–	10		.412			9	–	13		.409
Iona †	6	–	3		.667			12	–	6		.667
Manhattan	6	–	12		.333			7	–	13		.350
Rider	5	–	13		.278			6	–	17		.261
† 2021 MAAC tournament winner Note: The MAAC has ordered standings based on league wins, not winning percentage, since all teams did not reach 20 conference games played. These standings were also used for seeding purposes in the 2021 MAAC tournament.[1][2]

Previous season

The Golden Griffins finished the 2019–20 season 12–20, 7–13 in MAAC play, to finish in tenth place. They lost in the first round of the MAAC tournament to Iona.^[3]

Roster

2020–21 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Akrum Ahemed 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Scotland Campus Hackensack, NJ G 1 Ahamadou Fofana 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Erie Community College The Bronx, NY F 2 Malek Green 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Morehead State Cincinnati, OH G 3 Jordan Henderson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Indiana Elite Prep Cincinnati, OH F 4 Jalanni White 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Notre Dame-West Haven New Haven, CT G 5 Siem Uijtendaal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr BC Apollo Amsterdam Haarlem, Netherlands F 10 Jacco Fritz 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So DME Academy Tiel, Netherlands G 11 Armon Harried 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Lake Clifton High School Baltimore, MD G 12 Asa Beyah 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Cheshire Academy Utica, NY G 15 Majesty Brandon 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Monroe Community College The Bronx, NY F 21 Scott Hitchon 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Thornlea Secondary School Whitby, ON F 22 George Maslennikov 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Saddleback College Odesa, Ukraine G 25 Malik Brooks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Monmouth Lockport, NY	Head coach Reggie Witherspoon (Wheeling) Assistant coach(es) Chris Hawkins (Radford) Thurman Schaetzle (Canisius) Calvin Cage (Buffalo) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 29, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
MAAC regular season
December 11, 2020 7:00 p.m.		Marist	W 81–72	1–0 (1–0)	Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
December 12, 2020 7:00 p.m.		Marist	L 52–56	1–1 (1–1)	Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
December 27, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Monmouth	L 66–84	1–2 (1–2)	OceanFirst Bank Center  West Long Branch, NJ
December 28, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Monmouth	L 69–97	1–3 (1–3)	OceanFirst Bank Center  West Long Branch, NJ
January 1, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Saint Peter's	W 70–58	2–3 (2–3)	Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
January 2, 2021 1:00 p.m.		Saint Peter's	W 63–60	3–3 (3–3)	Koessler Athletic Center  Buffalo, NY
February 12, 2021 1:00 p.m.		Quinnipiac	W 74–67	4–3 (4–3)	People's United Center  Hamden, CT
February 13, 2021 1:00 p.m.		Quinnipiac	W 89–70	5–3 (5–3)	People's United Center  Hamden, CT
February 19, 2021 5:00 p.m.		at Fairfield	W 80–69	6–3 (6–3)	Alumni Hall  Fairfield, CT
February 20, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Fairfield	L 53–66	6–4 (6–4)	Alumni Hall  Fairfield, CT
February 26, 2021		at Niagara	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
February 27, 2021		at Niagara	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
March 4, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Siena	L 66–73	6–5 (6–5)	Alumni Recreation Center  Loudonville, NY
March 5, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Siena	W 76–75	7–5 (7–5)	Alumni Recreation Center  Loudonville, NY
MAAC tournament
March 8, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+	(6)	vs. (11) Rider First round	L 76–78	7–6	Boardwalk Hall (7–6) Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[4]