Advocare Invitational 2018: Villanova defeats Canisius 83-56

Happy Thanksgiving, BECB-ers. Help yourselves to an extra side of mashed potatoes and redemption for the Villanova Wildcats.

Ending their two-game losing streak (their first since November 2012), Villanova defeated Canisius 83-56 in the quarterfinals of the Advocare Invitational tournament down in Orlando, Florida.

Sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree was the man-of-the-hour for ‘Nova, hitting a double-double by halftime. Ending the game with a career-high 15 points and 13 rebounds, Cosby-Roundtree flexed much-needed vigor for the Wildcats. Senior Phil Booth joined Cosby-Roundtree with 15 points—notably, 10 of Booth’s 15 points came in the second half.

Rising from the throngs of newcomers for Villanova, freshman Saddiq Bey made his starting debut count. Dropping 11 points and eight rebounds, Bey displayed fresh skill beneath the bucket for ‘Nova. Fellow freshman and highly-touted recruit Jahvon Quinerly finally nabbed playing time, and put up nine points in 15 minutes played.

For the Golden Griffins, Isaiah Reese splashed 19 points and seven rebounds, followed next by Takal Molson’s 10 points and three rebounds.

Heavily out-rebounding Canisius 51-24 overall, Villanova made a concentrated point to dominate the glass on both ends. Shooting 48% of their field goals compared to Canisius’ 33%, ‘Nova also seemed to regain their offensive steadiness missing from previous games. However, both teams remained stunted by turnovers. In fact, Villanova suffered the most with 17.

Nonetheless, a needed W for the currently unranked Wildcats. Villanova moves on to meet the winner of Oklahoma State/Memphis at 11:30 tomorrow, Nov. 23rd.