Men’s basketball looks to snap five-game skid

By Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

2026 began with the Griffs on a win streak as the men’s basketball team started 3–0 in the new year, but it was followed by a five-game losing streak that dropped the Griffs out of MAAC Championship contention. With 10 games remaining on the schedule, Canisius looks to fight their way into a trip to Atlantic City.

Wins against Fairfield, Sacred Heart and Manhattan kicked off the Griffs’ 2026 as they scored a combined 237 points in the three victories. Leading the way during the streak for Canisius was junior Kahlil Singleton who scored a career-high 37 points in the win over Fairfield with nine made three-pointers. Singleton followed up his performance at Fairfield with a 20-point afternoon against Sacred Heart and then a 12-point night against Manhattan. 

After the career night, Singleton addressed the break prior to the Fairfield game and how it helped him get ready for the next part of the season. “We just went home for a few days and I kept telling myself that I’ve been too easy on myself. I needed to hunt shots, be more aggressive and get to it from the jump,” said Singleton. The strong start gave confidence to the Griffs, but it quickly was diminished when the next couple of games didn’t fall Canisius’ way.

Two days after the Manhattan victory, the Griffs took the court in New Rochelle, N.Y. against the Iona Gaels and the result wasn’t what Head Coach Jim Christian and his team wanted from the final game of a two-game road trip. A 74–48 defeat, the worst in conference play to that point, left the team stunned after the perfect start to 2026. Christian wanted the team to refocus as Battle of the Bridge rival Niagara came to the KAC on Jan. 14. 

The Purple Eagles came into the matchup with only one conference win, but overpowered the Griffs in a defensive battle. Even though Canisius outrebounded the Purple Eagles on the offensive side 16–8, the shots fell for Niagara when it mattered most, leading to a Niagara 59–54 victory. After the game, Christian commented on how the final minute is what went wrong for the Griffs. “We stopped competing. With two on the shot clock, we didn’t chase the shooter and next time down, we let a guy tee up and shoot a three. We were undisciplined at the game’s biggest times,” said Christian.

The loss to Niagara sent Canisius into a more urgent style of play as the team fell to Mount St. Mary’s a couple days later. The Griffs then hit the road to Connecticut where the team was swept on the short road trip by Sacred Heart and Fairfield. Both teams earned revenge on the Griffs, holding junior Bryan Ndjonga, the team’s second leading scorer, to a combined 22 points. Losing by only three to Sacred Heart and six to Fairfield was one of many tough things that both losses held for the Griffs. 

Christian repeated the frustration from the Niagara game of not being able to come up big in the moments the team needed to after the loss to Fairfield. “To win these kinds of games, especially on the road, we have to make winning plays when it’s time to win the game,” said Christian. 

Now as the team looks to finish the season inside the top 10 of the MAAC, the Griffs next test comes back at home against the Marist Red Foxes. Sitting at 11th in the conference, the Griffs will play the majority of their games against teams just ahead of them with Niagara chasing Canisius by a game. Each test proves to make or break the Griffs with a trip to America’s playground on the line.

Photo courtesy of Madi Burton