Off to the best in nearly 40 years, the Canisius College men's basketball team has seen a major turnaround under new head coach Jim Baron.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

"Definitely is surprising because as you come in, you bring a work ethic, you bring an infrastructure and you get them to understand the importance of doing a lot of the little things," Baron said.

"He's a workaholic and all he wants to do to win. He wants perfection. He works so hard, and he does that for a reason. He pushes everyone to their limits," said guard Billy Baron.

At 6-1 and 2-0 in the conference, Canisius already has more wins through the first seven games than they had all of last season. It's a breath of fresh air for guys who were there for the down times.

"I think his mentality of preaching defense and the up-and-down pace. It works for our team, it works for what we have, it just fits us. It feels great. It feels a lot different from last year. Of course winning always feels good," said guard Harold Washington.

"I though we would have a turnaround, but this year, we got some key players coming in and stepping up real early in the season and hopefully we can keep things rolling," said Alshwan Hymes.

The Griffs' new-found success will be put to the ultimate test on Saturday when they travel to Syracuse to face the Orange, ranked #4 in the country.

"We got guys from Upstate New York, so we thought it would be good to get these guys in that environment, and it's a great opportunity," Jim Baron said.

"Words can't describe it. It's a great feeling. We just want to go out there and compete, and hopefully come out with a win," said Washington.

A tall task to be sure, but another step toward building a winner on Main Street.