RAMBLERMANIA 2009-10
RAMBLERMANIA 2009-10
Canisius Preview

Coming off a 38-point thumping at the hands of Kansas State the Ramblers return home to the Gentile Center to take on the Canisius Golden Griffins. The Griffins will be playing their first game of the season and return all five starters from a year ago. Much like the Ramblers, though, the Griffs have struggled under fourth year head coach Tom Parrotta. While their have been slight improvements the fact remains that the Griffs are just 29-64 under Parrotta’s watch. Even with the return of all five starters and several key reserves they find themselves picked for seventh in conference coming off just an 11-20 season that saw them win only four games in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

The Griffs top player is senior guard Frank Turner. The five-ten Turner was named to the MAAC’s pre-season third team. He scored better than 15 points a game last season while dishing out four assists. Turner’s and the Griffins main weaknesses are similar to the Ramblers in that they struggle shooting the three-pointer and turn the ball over more than they would like. Turner shot just over 28% from long range, which was in line with the team’s average. The Griffs also turned the ball over a whopping 509 times last season with just 375 assists to show for it. Turner did hand out 124 assists last season, but had 126 turnovers to go along with it.

Joining Turner on the pre-season MAAC third team is junior forward Greg Logins. The husky 6’7” 240 pounder averaged better than 11 points and seven rebounds a contest last season. He also launched nearly 100 three-pointers, hitting less than 29% from beyond the arc.

Canisius’ top three-point threat last season was junior guard Julius Coles. The 6’4” 180 pounder led the team in three-points attempts, three-pointers made and three-point percentage. He hit just over 34% from beyond the arc.

Another Griffin who will stand out to Ramblers fans is senior center Chris Gadley. The 6’9” 320 pounder has the ability to go for a double double on any given night, but conditioning will be a concern.

The Griffins seemingly have very similar problems to the Ramblers and this should make for an interesting match-up. The Ramblers are in desperate need of a victory before heading back out on the road to Holy Cross Friday and the Griffins present a winnable game for them.

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