NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men's basketball team was edged by the Marist Red Foxes, 65-61, on Friday night on ESPN3.
Khallid Hart's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left proved to be the game-winner as Marist (3-18, 2-9 MAAC) left the Gallagher Center with its first win since Jan. 2007.
Four Purple Eagles (3-17, 2-9 MAAC) scored in double figures for the second straight game.
Emile Blackman, who averaged over 17 points in the previous four games, led the way with 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field.
Ramone Snowden scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Wesley Myers and
Dominique Reid had 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Karonn Davis led the game with a career-high six assists.
NU shot over 44 percent from the field, 42 percent from the 3-point line and 75 percent at the free-throw line, and had a 34-25 rebounding advantage and a 17-6 second chance points advantage.
"I thought we played very hard," head coach
Chris Casey said. "I thought we did a good job defensively, rebounded well, shot the ball well from the floor and shot the ball well from the 3-point line."
Niagara took its first lead, 56-54, with 3:44 remaining on a layup by Blackman. The Purple Eagles were trailing 58-57 when Snowden put NU back in front with a layup with 1:37 left. After empty possessions by both teams, Hart connected on a 3-pointer to put Marist up 61-59 with 28 seconds remaining. On the en suing possession, Niagara would turnover the ball with eight seconds remaining. Hart would make four straight free throws in the final seconds to go 9-for-9 at the charity stripe.
"There were a couple of points in the game where we needed to finish some plays that might have gotten us a little bit of separation," Casey said. "We were never able to get any separation and that is something we have to learn how to do. There were turnovers throughout the game that hurt us."
Niagara continues its home weekend on Sunday, Feb. 1 against the Quinnipiac Bobcats at 2 p.m. For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499.
