SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Niagara men's basketball team (8-3) rode a strong second half from Charron Fisher (Pennsauken, N.J.) en route to a 56-53 victory to claim the 41st Cable Car Classic title over the host Santa Clara Broncos (8-6). The 26-point effort from Fisher earned him Tournament MVP honors.

Fisher scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half, including Niagara's first 10 points after halftime. The nation's leading scorer connected on four three-pointers in the win and narrowly missed his fifth-straight double-double with nine caroms. Fisher totaled 51 points and 19 boards in the Classic.

Sophomore Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) also earned All-Tournament honors, scoring 17 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line. 13 of Lewis' total came in the first half as Niagara trailed 28-26 at the break despite not playing its best basketball. He finished with 43 points in the tourney.

"We knew that things were going to get better in the second half if we stuck to our game plan," Fisher explained. "Things couldn't get much worse."

The Broncos tried to slow down the offensive pace, running plays in the half court. The strategy seemed to work in the first half, but head coach Joe Mihalich stirred things up in the opening of the second stanza as Niagara went on a quick 10-1 to take a 36-29 lead 4:30 into the period, as Fisher nailed a pair of jumpers and two three-pointers. Niagara never trailed again en route to the championship.

Center Benson Egemonye (Benin City, Nigeria) pulled down 10 rebounds to give him 22 for the tournament. Senior Stanley Hodge (Washington, D.C.) and freshman Anthony Nelson (Plainfield, N.J.) chipped in with six points apiece.

Despite not holding the lead in the second half, the Broncos gave Niagara everything that they could handle led by Ben Dowdell's career-high 22 points. The freshman added 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the second half to keep things close.

Dowdell converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 6:28 mark to tie the score at 47-47. Fisher rebounded with a contested three-ball off an assist by Lewis to push the lead to five at 4:55. A lay-up off a set play by Hodge pushed the lead to seven and Niagara relied on terrific free throw shooting down the stretch for the win. The Purple Eagles went 13-of-14 from the line in the game.

Bronco point guard Brody Angley had a change to send the game into overtime, but his three at the buzzer hit the back of the rim, though contested closely by Nelson.

The Purple Eagles are back in action at Iona on Jan. 3, with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.