Kumu leads men’s basketball to second win of season

By: Ryan Patota, Sports Reporter

The Griffs earned their second-straight home win of the season on Wednesday with a 58–55 victory over Mercyhurst, bouncing back from a road loss to St. Bonaventure on Saturday. 

Canisius freshman guard Chris Kumu has stood out as one of the bright spots for the Griffs, leading the team with 16 points on Wednesday after a 12-point performance in Olean. The 6-foot-4 guard sealed the deal for the Griffs, getting his own rebound to tip it back into the net, giving the Griffs a six-point lead with under four minutes remaining. Canisius would hold onto the lead, defeating the Lakers 58–55, earning their second win of the season. 

“We’re just trying to get into a rhythm and bring the momentum to our home court and get into our flow – I’m trying to go out there and play the hardest I can to help our team,” Kumu said after the win.    

“It was important to get off to a good start with a game this tight. I felt our defense was really good – that is one of the areas, along with rebounding, we really wanted to improve on. I thought we did both well,” said Head Coach Jim Christian after the game. 

The Griffs out-rebounded the Lakers 28–27 in the win, an area of struggle throughout the season. On Saturday, a familiar face in former Griff Frank Mitchell recorded 11 rebounds and 20 points, leading the Bonnies to an 89–70 home win, which included St. Bonaventure

outrebounding the Griffs 44–26. Junior forward Bryan Ndjonga had a career-high 18 points, and freshman guard Javante Edwards had 14 points off the bench. 

The Griffs will look to build off the Mercyhurst win as they sit at 2–2 on the season. They will return to the road for a non-conference game at High Point on Nov. 17, with tip-off at 7 p.m. 

Chris Kumu Shooting a free throw