Sophomore Juan Mendez tallied a career-best 33 points and led the game with 12 rebounds to record a double-double and lead Niagara (3-5) to a hard-fought 88-72 win over Drexel (3-4) before 1,231 at the Gallagher Center on Saturday. Mendez paced a Niagara offensive attack with five players in double figures, including James Reeves, 14, Alvin Cruz, 13, Tremmell Darden, 12 and David Brooks, 10. Mendez hit 14 of 16 from the field in the game.

Drexel center Robert Battle was the leading Dragon with 23 points, including a perfect 13-13 from the charity line. Tim Whitworth added 14 and Phil Goss, 11. Battle also had 11 boards.

Drexel raced out to a double-digit first-half lead and was up by as much as 13 points, 33-20. Niagara cut it to four points by the break, trailing 42-38. In the second half, Niagara took the lead for good on back-to-back Cruz three-pointers, breaking a 51-51 tie into a 57-51 Purple Eagle lead. Mendez added a layup to complete an 8-0 run. Drexel never got closer than six points the rest of the way. Up 73-67 with 6:18 to play, Niagara went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes to push the lead up to 21 points at 88-67. Niagara went 9-for-10 from the line during the run. Mendez had six points in the run.

Behind Mendez's 12 boards, Niagara won the rebounding battle, 39-33. The Purple Eagles shot 58.1 percent (18-31) in the second half, lifting the game total to 52.5 percent (31-59). Drexel, which hit six three-pointers in the first half, connected on just one of 12 in the second. The Niagara bench came into play as Paul De Wet fouled out aith 13:03 to play and James Mathias followed at the 11:03 mark.

Niagara, which has now won two straight, returns to action next Saturday night at Youngstown State. It will be the first of five straight road games for the Purple Eagles.