Box Score |
Game Highlights
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Niagara men’s basketball team recorded its largest road win in its storied history with the Canisius Golden Griffins in 29 years with a cultivating 75-56 victory on Thursday at the Koessler Athletic Center in the National MAAC Game of the Week on ESPN3.
“It was a good solid win for us,” head coach
Joe Mihalich said. “We are playing some good basketball right now which is important because it’s only going to get tougher down the stretch.”
The Purple Eagles (9-11, 4-4 MAAC) have won 15 of the last 18 meetings, including eight of the last 11 trips to Canisius (4-14, 1-7 MAAC). The 19-point win is Niagara’s largest margin of victory at Canisius since a 21-point win (83-62) on Feb. 19, 1983.
Niagara withstood an early charged by Canisius and a late run by the Golden Griffins who cut Niagara’s 16-point second half lead to five points with 5:45 remaining.
After falling behind 10-2 through the opening two and half minutes, Niagara surged in front thanks to a 24-7 run coming mostly from 3-pointers.
Marvin Jordan accounted for four of Niagara’s seven 3-pointers in the first half as the Purple Eagles held a 16-point lead with 3:44 left in the half. Canisius closed the half on a 6-0 run as NU went into the break up 37-27.
The Purple Eagles restored their 16-point lead immediately by opening the second half on a 6-0 spurt in a 1:19 with baskets from
Ameen Tanksley,
Malcolm Lemmons and
Antoine Mason.
Niagara was in full control until the Golden Griffins mounted a run with seven minutes left as Canisius ran off seven straight points to cut the Purple Eagles’ lead to 58-53 with 5:45 left. In need of a basket, NU went to the reigning MAAC Rookie of the Week. Mason, who claimed his first rookie of the week honors on Monday, made a pull up jumper in the paint on the Purple Eagles’ en suing possession to halt Canisius’ run. The basket sparked a 17-3 run to end the game to secure NU’s third straight win.
Mason was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points for his fifth 20-point game this season. Mason went 7-for-16 in the field and made a game-high seven free throws on eight attempts while bringing down six boards, dishing out three assists and grabbing two steals.
Jordan finished with 16 points and had a game-high five 3-pointers coming off the bench. Tanksley added 11 points and had game-high four steals.
Juan'ya Green surpassed his career-high in assists, which he set in Sunday’s win over Marist, with a game-high 11. Green also moved ahead of Tyrone Lewis for second place in points by a freshman (359).
It was a Niagara basketball sweep of Canisius on Thursday; the women’s team won 66-60 in the first part of the doubleheader, to mark the first time since the 2006-07 season that both teams have won at Canisius in the same season.
Niagara is next in action on Sunday when the Purple Eagles play at Manhattan for a 4 p.m. tip.
