Box Score

HARTFORD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles withstood a late Hartford rally to escape with a 79-76 victory on Saturday from Chase Arena.

“It was a great win for two reasons; we had a great first half and we made winning plays late,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We built a double-digit first half lead and learned that feeling. They got going in the second half, but our kids hung in there. We had guys make clutch plays to pull out the win.” 

The trio of Juan'ya Green, Marvin Jordan and Antoine Mason combined for 59 points and each made key plays late to preserve Niagara’s second road win. Niagara had a 17-point lead with 14:56 left in the game and NU finished the game with season-highs in field goal percentage (50.0), 3-point percentage (47.4) and free-throw percentage (76.9).

The Hawks rallied behind Wes Cole’s eight 3-pointers and 23 second-half points. Hartford cut the lead to 51-43 when Green made an acrobatic layup and Jordan followed with a 3-pointer to regain the double-digit lead with 9:47 left. The Hawks trimmed the lead to five, but Mason drained a jumper with the shot clock expiring for a Purple Eagles 70-63 lead with 1:30 remaining.

Hartford scored four points in a minute and had possession after a missed free throw with 29 seconds left when Jordan stole the ball from Mark Nwakamma and was fouled. Jordan made the ensuing free throws and NU went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line in the final seconds.

Green, who has scored in double figures in every game this season, led the Purple Eagles with 25 points. Jordan scored 20 points and was 6-for-9 from behind the arc, one shy of his career-best. Jordan set new career-highs in assists (7) and steals (6). Mason added 14 points.

Niagara returns to the Gallagher Center on Tuesday to play the Drexel Dragons at 7 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499 (TIXX) or tickets@purpleeagles.com.