CANTON, NY – Justin Stokes (Buffalo, NY/Middle Early College) did everything he could to get a win - putting the team on his back - but the Villa Maria College Vikings (7-23) fell to the SUNY Canton Kangaroos 86-76 on Saturday afternoon as the two teams split the season series.
 
Stokes finished with a team-high 23 points and added four assists.  The sophomore was 9-of-13 from the floor and made all five of his free throw attempts inside the "Roos House."
 
Canton (17-3), ranked seventh in the latest United States Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Division I Poll, raced out to a 15-6 lead less than eight minutes into the game.  Villa freshman DeJaun Owens (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry) completed a three-point-play to get within two, 17-15 with 10:13 left in the half but Canton was able to keep the lead for the entirety of the half.  They took a 35-31 lead into the break.  Stokes scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first 20 minutes to keep the Vikings within striking distance.
 
Villa freshman Dominic Douglas (Bainbridge, GA/Bainbridge) opened the scoring in the second half to get within two points but the Kangaroos extended their lead to eight minutes later when Romario Fletcher, who finished with a game-high 26 points, and a plethora of dunks, cashed in near the rim with 16:56 left.  Fletcher was 13-of-16 from the field .
 
The two teams traded baskets, like they did for most of the afternoon, for the next five minutes before Owens converted another three-point-play to get Villa within two, 49-47, with 12:41 remaining.
 
After Douglas connected on a catch-and-shoot three to get the Vikings within one, 53-52 with 10:24 left, the Kangaroos rattled off nine straight points to extend the lead to 10.  They stretched the lead to 11 with 6:59 left, but the Vikings continued to fight.
 
Freshman Donte Campbell (Buffalo, NY/Huch Tech) finished an old fashioned three-point play to make the score 67-59.  Stokes then finished a layup to get within six on the next possession, but Canton's Kevin Baksh drilled a three from the right corner to break the backs of the Vikings and extend the lead back to nine, putting the game out of reach.
 
Villa had three other players reach double-figure scoring numbers as both Owens and freshman Darius Huggins (Buffalo, NY/Lackawanna) scored 12, while Douglas added 11.
 
Canton's leading scorer, Sam Annorh, who entered the game averaging 17.9 points, scored 15 points but was just 3-of-14 from the floor and 1-of-5 from three.  He did manage to pick up a double-double, dishing out 10 helpers.
 
Both teams shot a high percentage from the floor with the Kangaroos connecting on 53.1 percent of their shots with Villa making 51.7 percent, but the home team owned the glass, out-rebounding Villa (18).
 
Campbell finished with seven points and two assists for Villa, two days after scoring a career-best 30 points on Thursday against Niagara County.  Junior Kirby Driscoll (Angola, NY/Lakeshore) finished with five points, three assists and three rebounds to go along with a steal.
 
Villa returns home to close the season with two games inside the Villa Athletic Center.  They host Mercyhurst North East on Tuesday with tip slated for 8 p.m before closing the season against Jamestown Community College-Cattaraugus on Saturday at 3 p.m.