2016–17 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team represented Canisius College during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Griffins, led by first-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. They finished the season 18–16, 10–10 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They defeated Marist in the first round of the MAAC tournament to advance to the Quarterfinals where they lost to Saint Peter's. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Samford.

2016–17 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball
CIT, First Round
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	18–16 (10–10 MAAC)
Head coach	Reggie Witherspoon (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Chris Hawkins Larry Blunt
Home arena	Koessler Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 MAAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Monmouth	18	–	2		.900			27	–	7		.794
Saint Peter's	14	–	6		.700			23	–	13		.639
Iona †	12	–	8		.600			22	–	13		.629
Siena	12	–	8		.600			17	–	17		.500
Fairfield	11	–	9		.550			16	–	15		.516
Rider	10	–	10		.500			18	–	15		.545
Canisius	10	–	10		.500			18	–	16		.529
Quinnipiac	7	–	13		.350			10	–	21		.323
Niagara	6	–	14		.300			10	–	23		.303
Marist	5	–	15		.250			8	–	24		.250
Manhattan	5	–	15		.250			10	–	22		.313
† 2017 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Golden Griffins finished the 2015–16 season 14–19, 8–12 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated Niagara in the first round of the MAAC tournament to advance to the Quarterfinals where they lost to Iona.

On May 20, 2016, head coach Jim Baron announced his retirement.^[1] He finished at Canisius with a four-year record of 73–59. On May 28, the school hired Reggie Witherspoon as head coach.^[2]

Roster

2016–17 Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 00 Ronnie Gombe 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Nairobi, Kenya G 1 Malik Johnson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Richmond, Virginia F 2 Jermaine Crumpton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS Jr Niagara Falls, New York G 3 Martin Dixon-Green 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Toronto, Ontario, Canada G 4 Kiefer Douse 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Brampton, Ontario, Canada G 5 Kassius Robertson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Toronto, Ontario, Canada C 10 Selvedin Planincic (I)   6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada G 11 Chris Atkinson 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Hempstead, New York G 13 Isaiah Reese 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Miami, Florida G 14 Spencer Foley 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Chicago, Illinois F 22 Phil Valenti 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Sr Victor, New York F 23 Dantai St. Louis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Brampton, Ontario, Canada F 25 Tyrell Taylor (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 183 lb (83 kg) So Brooklyn, New York F 32 Jibreel Faulkner 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Washington, D.C.	Head coach Reggie Witherspoon (Wheeling) Assistant coach(es) Chris Hawkins (Radford) Larry Blunt (James Madison) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/07/2016* 6:00 pm		Ryerson	W 99–95		Koessler Athletic Center (811) Buffalo, NY
Regular season
11/13/2016* 6:00 pm, ESPN2		at No. 2 Kentucky Bluegrass Showcase	L 69–93	0–1	Rupp Arena (22,009) Lexington, KY
11/15/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cleveland State Bluegrass Showcase	L 64–67	0–2	Wolstein Center (1,149) Cleveland, OH
11/18/2016* 7:00 pm		at Duquesne Bluegrass Showcase	W 78–77	1–2	Palumbo Center (786) Pittsburgh, PA
11/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UT Martin Bluegrass Showcase	L 69–72	1–3	Koessler Athletic Center (1,291) Buffalo, NY
11/23/2016* 7:00 pm		Tennessee State	L 58–72	1–4	Koessler Athletic Center (864) Buffalo, NY
11/26/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Youngstown State	W 90–84	2–4	Beeghly Center (1,174) Youngstown, OH
12/02/2016 7:00 pm		at Manhattan	W 77–76	3–4 (1–0)	Draddy Gymnasium (1,275) Riverdale, NY
12/04/2016 2:00 pm		at Monmouth	L 88–94	3–5 (1–1)	OceanFirst Bank Center (2,175) West Long Branch, NJ
12/07/2016* 7:30 pm		at Boston University	W 87–77	4–5	Case Gym (363) Boston, MA
12/10/2016* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at St. Francis Brooklyn	W 91–81	5–5	Generoso Pope Athletic Complex (1,103) Brooklyn, NY
12/12/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Albany	W 77–64	6–5	Koessler Athletic Center (944) Buffalo, NY
12/17/2016* 3:30 pm, SPSN		vs. Buffalo Big 4 Basketball Classic	W 94–87 ^OT	7–5	KeyBank Center (5,327) Buffalo, NY
12/22/2016* 7:00 pm		at St. Bonaventure	W 106–101 ^OT	8–5	Reilly Center (3,433) Olean, NY
01/02/2017 2:00 pm, SPSN		Siena	W 82–79	9–5 (2–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,418) Buffalo, NY
01/04/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Quinnipiac	W 83–77	10–5 (3–1)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,011) Buffalo, NY
01/08/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Iona	L 75–98	10–6 (3–2)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,650) New Rochelle, NY
01/10/2017 7:00 pm		at Fairfield	W 86–72	11–6 (4–2)	Webster Bank Arena (1,112) Bridgeport, CT
01/14/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Marist	W 91–58	12–6 (5–2)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,524) Buffalo, NY
01/16/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Monmouth	L 72–76	12–7 (5–3)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,684) Buffalo, NY
01/20/2017 7:00 pm		at Quinnipiac	L 90–95	12–8 (5–4)	TD Bank Sports Center (1,585) Hamden, CT
01/23/2017 7:00 pm		at Niagara Battle of the Bridge	L 84–91	12–9 (5–5)	Gallagher Center (1,895) Lewiston, NY
01/28/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Manhattan	W 78–64	13–9 (6–5)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,602) Buffalo, NY
01/30/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Rider	L 66–72	13–10 (6–6)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,137) Buffalo, NY
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		at Siena	W 80–73	14–10 (7–6)	Times Union Center (7,209) Albany, NY
02/06/2017 7:00 pm		at Saint Peter's	W 72–70	15–10 (8–6)	Yanitelli Center (351) Jersey City, NY
02/10/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Niagara Battle of the Bridge	L 81–94	15–11 (8–7)	Koessler Athletic Center (2,196) Buffalo, NY
02/14/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Iona	W 89–83	16–11 (9–7)	Koessler Athletic Center (986) Buffalo, NY
02/17/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Rider	W 85–77	17–11 (10–7)	Alumni Gymnasium (1,632) Lawrenceville, NJ
02/19/2017 2:00 pm		at Marist	L 74–76	17–12 (10–8)	McCann Field House (1,381) Poughkeepsie, NY
02/24/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairfield	L 55–58	17–13 (10–9)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,299) Buffalo, NY
02/26/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Saint Peter's	L 65–72	17–14 (10–10)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,354) Buffalo, NY
MAAC tournament
03/02/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(7)	vs. (10) Marist First Round	W 77–73	18–14	Times Union Center (2,406) Albany, NY
03/03/2017 9:30 pm, ESPN3	(7)	vs. (2) Saint Peter's Quarterfinals	L 58–61	18–15	Times Union Center (2,298) Albany, NY
CIT
03/14/2017* 7:30 pm, Facebook Live		at Samford First Round	L 74–78	18–16	Pete Hanna Center (614) Homewood, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. "Longtime Atlantic 10 coach Jim Baron retires from Canisius".
2. "Canisius brings Witherspoon back to Buffalo". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 10, 2017.