DETROIT – The Niagara men’s basketball team opened its three-game Legends Classic weekend with a 65-61 victory over the Bowling Green Falcons on Friday afternoon at Calihan Hall. 

“We are really proud of the guys for getting this win," head coach Joe Mihalich said. "We were down a lot of guys tonight and had to play with seven guys. The guys kept working hard and it was a great win."

Niagara (2-2) overcame another halftime deficit to pick up its second consecutive win. The Purple Eagles were trailing at halftime, 32-30, in a game that featured 11 ties and four lead changes. The game changer occurred when Niagara used an 8-0 run to take a 52-44 lead with 8:19 remaining to break open the close game.
 
NU welcomed back senior guard Anthony Nelson who made his season debut after missing the first three games due to injury. The lone senior on the team showed his clutched qualities down the stretch when he made a layup with one second left on the shot clock to extend NU’s lead to 62-58 with 45 seconds left in the game.

After BG (1-4) cut the lead to 62-61, Marvin Jordan drained two free throws with 19 seconds left. In the Falcons’ final possession of the game, the Purple Eagles defense forced another contested BG 3-point attempt which clanked off the back rim; NU held BG to 3-for-19 shooting from behind the arc. Kevon Moore would then hit a free throw with two seconds left to seal the game.

The Purple Eagles were paced by a season-high 46.2 field goal percentage and had three Purple Eagles scoring in double-figures.  Jordan led the game with a career-high 17 points surpassing his 14-point output in Monday’s win over Mount St. Mary’s. Jordan had four assists, three steals, two rebounds, one block and had zero turnovers for the second straight game. Fellow freshman Malcolm Lemmons dropped a career-high 13 points and chipped in with four rebounds. Junior Kashief Edwards was second on the team in scoring with 15 points.

Niagara continues play in the Legends Classic against Albany on Saturday at 5 p.m.