NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – In a game that featured 13 lead changes and 12 ties, the Niagara University Purple Eagles suffered a heartbreaking 80-79 defeat to the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds in overtime on Saturday afternoon.
With the score knotted at 78-78 with 13.2 seconds left in overtime,
Matt Scott sank his first free throw to put Niagara (3-8) up 79-78 but his second attempt rimmed out and was grabbed by the Blackbirds' Joel Hernandez. LIU Brooklyn (5-3), then, went down the court and Trevon Woods made the game-winning baseline layup with 2.6 seconds remaining. Niagara was unable to muster up a last second shot.
The Purple Eagles went into halftime leading 37-35, but found themselves trailing 51-47 with 11:42 remaining. A layup by
Justin Satchell sparked an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 58-51 lead. NU had the largest lead of the game at 65-57 with 6:47 left before the Blackbirds responded with an 11-3 run to tie the game at 68-68 with 2:53 remaining.
Two Aakim Saintil free throws with 1:54 left put the Blackbirds up 70-68; but with 12 seconds left,
Karonn Davis slipped a pass to
Dominic Robb under the basket and his layup off the glass tied the game at 70-70. LIU's Jerome Frink missed a 3-pointer with three seconds on the clock as the game went into overtime.
The overtime period had four ties and four lead changes with neither team leading by more than two points.
Emile Blackman and
Matt Scott each scored a game-high 22 points; Scott also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Robb finished with a career-high 12 points, grabbed three rebounds and had three assists for Niagara.
Niagara is back on the court on Dec. 23 at in-state foe Albany at 7 p.m. The game will air live on the Niagara Sports Network via AM 1400 WWWS and PurpleEagles.com/Watch.Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter
@NUPurpleEagles and for men's basketball updates at
@NiagaraMBB. Check in with the Purple Eagles on
Facebook/PurpleEagles and on
Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.
