Staff photo /Brian Yauger Canfield’s Ryan Petro (O) looks for an open teammate while being guarded by Howland’s Ben Bronson Tuesday night. Canfield topped their AAC rival 75-70 to capture its 7th win of the season.

CANFIELD — No matter who’s playing, it’s always interesting in the All-American Conference.

While they didn’t get the victory in the end, Howland erased a 20-point deficit in the second half, but Canfield held tight defensively to hold onto the win, 75-70.

“Howland’s hot, there’s no doubt about it,” Cardinals coach Todd Muckleroy said. “They’re a good team and they’ve had some really, really good quality wins. We knew we were going to have to play a good game and you can see how explosive they are because they really made a good push at the end. They really did a nice job.”

Canfield came out guns blazing, and the momentum carried all the way, deep into the second half. Until the fourth quarter, points seemed to come at a premium for the Tigers. Heading into the final quarter, just as the Tigers were beginning their pushback, Howland trailed 55-39.

“I thought our effort for honestly the first three quarters was lackluster,” Tigers coach Dan Bubon said. “Our guard defense was terrible, the worst it has been all year. They kept getting guys and getting into the paint, which allowed them to do two things they do really well: dump into their big guy to score or kick it out for an open three.

“We dug a huge hole. In the fourth quarter all of a sudden we decided let’s just crank this up and play the best we can play. We made it a hell of a game at the end, but you can’t dig a hole like that.”

A shot from Tigers senior Anthony Massucci, kickstarted Howland’s pushback. Massucci, who led the Tigers with a game-high 29 points, got the team started after his 3-pointer set the new school all-time high for 3-pointers.

From that point on, it seemed like Howland was able to hit every open shot that came its way.

“Shots were falling for them,” Muckleroy said. “I think it was one of those things where we were just, not blowing assignments, but we were getting out there as best we could and they just started hitting shots and finding the right people.

“That’s the kind of team they are. They rebound the ball well, they know their roles well and for us to hang on to that game is a bit of a blessing, but I’m happy that our kids had the fortitude to hang on.”

Jake Grdic led the Cardinals (7-5, 1-2 AAC) with 15 points. Harry Slaven scored 14 and Jake Schneider tacked on 10.

Playing in the AAC this season has been a slugfest to put it lightly. Howland (8-6, 1-3 AAC), who has faced every team in the league this year, has been both the giver and recipient of multiple gut punches.

Canfield has yet to play Harding, but has seen plenty of what the league offers and knows any time they’re facing a league opponent, anything can happen.

“I think everyone in the middle, they can win or they can lose on any given night,” Muckleroy said.

The Cardinals have a tough back-to-back this weekend, hosting Chaney on Friday and traveling to West Branch on Saturday.

“You know what they’re going to bring,” Muckleroy said. “They’re just fast paced and high uptempo and they bring a lot of pressure to you. I think tempo is going to be the key there. Whether we can control it. We’re going to enjoy the win tonight but tomorrow, we’ve got to get ready and start preparing for Chaney.”

The Tigers take on another Cardinals team on Friday when they host Cardinal Mooney.