BUFFALO, N.Y. – Swarming defense and timely baskets propelled the Niagara men's basketball team to an 83-72 victory over the Davidson Wildcats in game one of the Big 4 Basketball Doubleheader at the First Niagara Center on Wednesday.

Niagara (3-8) held Davidson (4-6), one of the most consistent shooting teams in the country, to well below its average in field goal percentage (36 percent) and 3-point percentage (20). Offensively, the Purple Eagles placed four in double figures while shooting 48 percent from the field in the game, including 52 percent in the second half.

"I'm very proud of our guys because we stayed strong," head coach Chris Casey said. "We opened the game up in the first five minutes of the second half, and we were solid down the stretch and made free throws when we needed to."

The first half was tightly contested with nine ties and 14 lead changes as the Purple Eagles went into halftime trailing 34-31. The Purple Eagles started the second half quickly, tying the game on a Marvin Jordan 3-pointer at 34-34 on the half's first shot. Niagara soon regained the lead at the 19:08 mark with a Tahjere McCall's mid-range jumper on Niagara's next possession. The Purple Eagles wouldn't relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.

However, Niagara did have to answer to every Davidson's challenge to maintain its lead. The Wildcats cut Niagara's lead to 56-53 with 7:28 on the clock when McCall's converted a 3-point play on a tip-in. The Purple Eagles would push their lead to nine points on three occasions over the next five minutes before another 3-point play by McCall gave Niagara its largest lead at 82-70 with 15 seconds remaining. 

Antoine Mason led all scorers with 21 points, 19 in the second half, for his 10th 20-plus scoring game of the season.  Jordan added 17 points while tying for game-high honors in assists with four and grabbing a game-high three steals. McCall finished with a career-high 16 points, including his first career 3-pointer to give NU a 41-37 lead with 15:33 left in the game. Ramone Snowden was the fourth Purple Eagle in double figures, contributing 12 points and tying game-high honors in rebounds with six with teammates Marcus Ware and Mason, and Davidson's Chris Czerapowicz.

Niagara will have 10 days off before its next game when the Purple Eagles host Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure on Dec. 21 at 5 p.m. The game will be a part of a Niagara men's and women's basketball doubleheader as the women's team will host Big 4 rival Buffalo at 1 p.m.

For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286- 8499, tickets@purpleeagles.com and www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets.