The Canisius basketball team had a talented, deep roster all season, spending time in the top 10 of the large school poll and certainly showing it was a good team.

On Sunday night, Canisius picked the perfect time to become great.

Behind a stellar, MVP-performance by junior Blair Helton and a tenacious defensive effort, the Crusaders knocked off top-seeded and No. 2 large school Nichols, 69-60, to win the school’s 11th Manhattan Cup.

Canisius, ranked ninth among large schools, had lost to Nichols by 25 and 30 points during the regular season, but the team that an estimated 1,600 watched play at Canisius College’s Koessler Center was a different version.

“When we got on this floor, the Canisius College floor, we put that all behind us,” said Helton, who had 29 points and five three-pointers. “We said that it was a new game, a new opportunity, and we’re gonna beat them. From beginning to end.”

Canisius advanced to a state Catholic semifinal at 4 p. m. Saturday at Holy Angels Academy.

“It doesn’t get any better,” coach Kyle Husband said. “We’ve been up and down, we took a few on the chin. To be able to step back and see these guys, and with everything they worked at, and everything they’ve worked for all year . . . to see them celebrate, it doesn’t get any better.”

Helton hit three three-pointers in the last four minutes of a third quarter in which Canisius took control. The Crusaders had a 30-27 halftime lead and were up, 53-42, going to the fourth.

“I noticed that I was on fire, so I just kept going and kept shooting,” said the 6-foot-1 Helton. “I kept going to the end of the game, from whistle to whistle.”

Like his team, Helton has certainly showed flashes of greatness throughout the year.

“He’s had moments like that all season, but to see him do it in a big game, when the pressure was on . . . he’s our guy,” Husband said. “For him to step up, we needed it and he came through all night.”

Canisius got 10 points from Sean Brady and nine from Andrew Zdrojewski, both members of the all-tournament team. Seven players scored while Canisius’ nine-man rotation wore down Nichols on defense.

With a deep roster filled with players from the league runner-up football team, Canisius was very physical in defending Nichols as it won this championship.

Andy MacKinnon led Nichols with 14 points while senior Chris Stegemann had 11. Junior standouts Ron Canestro and Will Regan were limited to 10 and eight points, respectively. Regan and Stegemann were named to the all-tournament team.

“We wanted to put as much pressure on them as we could,” Helton said. “We tried to keep Will under 15 points. We tried to do a good job on him and Ron.”

Canisius showed it was ready to play from the start, jumping to a 6-2 lead on an Aaron Nevins three-pointer; Helton’s first three-pointer helped Canisius take a 17-13 lead after one quarter.

The game remained tight in the second but Nichols never went ahead, coming within one point on two occasions. Again, Helton came up with a big play by hitting a driving bank shot in the final seconds to give Canisius a 30-27 halftime lead.

Helton’s three three-pointers in the third quarter were part of a 12-6 closing run that turned a 41-36 lead into a 53-42 advantage heading to the fourth.

Canestro picked up his fourth foul with 6:36 left in the game, which sent him to the bench.

The lead twice reached 13 before a last-ditch effort by the Vikings.

Nichols cut the lead to three thanks to a 10-0 run that began with a Stegemann three-pointer and ended with a Regan follow with 2:02 to play that made it 59-56.

However, Canisius junior Taylor Baach hit a huge baseline jumper to respond. Two free throws by Regan made it 61-58 with 1:31 to play, but fittingly it was Helton who let Canisius fans exhale.

After working the shot clock down, Helton drove to the basket and hit a left-handed bank shot for a 63-58 lead heading to the final minute. Nichols’ next trip came up empty after two shots, and Canisius hit enough free throws the rest of the way.

It is Canisius’ first Manhattan Cup since 2005, when the Crusaders beat St. Joe’s. Nichols won the Cup in 2007 when Regan and Canestro were freshmen, but lost to St. Joe’s in last year’s final.

Canisius fans co-opted St. Joe’s “I believe that we will win” chant several times in the final quarter.

“We showed glimpses of it at times but we never did it for a full game,” Husband said. “It was for a quarter here and a half here, and to see it done for 32 minutes — these guys working their tail off, all those practices, it finally came through.”