JERSEY CITY, NJ (February 7, 2010) - Wesley Jenkins recorded his first double-double of the season and led the Saint Peter’s College Peacocks (14-10, 9-5 MAAC) to a 73-72 overtime win against the Canisius College Golden Griffins (11-14, 6-8 MAAC) this afternoon. The Griffs scored the final five points in regulation to send the game into extra time, but a 10-3 run by the Peacocks in overtime gave them the win a guaranteed .500 record in the MAAC. This is the first time since the 2005-06 season (9-9) that Saint Peter’s will finish with at least a .500 record in MAAC play.

 

“We could have played a lot better and we could have finished the game out when we were up 10 points,” said Saint Peter’s head coach John Dunne after the game. “We missed some free throws and gave them some easy baskets to allow them to get back in the game. We stayed mentally tough although we didn’t have our best game. I’m very proud that we got a conference win when we didn’t play our best game against a team that has a very good point guard and has very good players around them and plays very hard.”

 

The Peacocks jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Canisius responded with seven straight points to take the lead at 9-6 with 15:26 to play in the first half. Saint Peter’s then scored five straight to take the lead back at 11-9 at the 14:31 mark. The game was tied at 16 with 7:02 to play, but the Peacocks then went on a 15-6 run that gave them their largest at 31-22 with 44-seconds to play in the first half. Canisius scored the final points of the first half on a pair of free throws and Saint Peter’s had a 31-24 lead at the break.

 

Nick Leon and Darius Conley led all scorers with eight first half points. Frank Turner and Greg Logins each scored six for Canisius. Saint Peter’s shot 36.7% and held the Griffs to 25%. Canisius outrebounded Saint Peter’s 20-19 and the Peacocks committed nine turnovers and forced 12.

 

Canisius started the second half on an 11-0 run and took their largest lead at 35-31 at the 16:34 mark. Saint Peter’s came right back with a 5-0 run to retake the lead 36-35. Canisius then scored four straight to take a 39-35 lead, but the Peacocks reeled off a 15-3 run to match their largest lead at nine points, 51-42 with 8:23 to play. The Griffs scored five straight to cut the deficit to four points, but back-to-back triples by Leon and Jenkins extended the Peacock lead to its largest of the game at 57-47 with 4:39 to play. Canisius then used a 10-1 run to draw to within one points at 58-57 with 1:18 to play. Jenkins scored four straight points to up the Peacock advantage back to five points at 52-47 with :23.9 on the clock. The Griffs scored the final five points of regulation, including a running lay-up by Turner with 1.2 on the clock to send the game to overtime, tied at 62.

 

Canisius struck first in overtime on a three-pointer to take a 65-62 lead, but Saint Peter’s then went on a 10-3 run that included five points from Jenkins to take a 72-68 lead with 1:57 to play. The Griffs cut the deficit to two points and the Peacocks went just 1-6 from the line in the final minute, but prevailed 73-72.

 

Jenkins finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals. Conley also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Leon scored 16 points. Turner finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Griffs. The Peacocks shot 38.5% from field and held Canisius to 33.9%. The Griffs won the board battle 48-25, but committed 22 turnovers to the Peacocks 18.

 

Saint Peter’s will be back in action on Friday night as they travel to face the Loyola University Greyhounds for a 7pm tip-off. The game can be heard live at www.redzonemedia.com beginning at 6:55pm.