LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – The Niagara Purple Eagles prevailed over the second place Rider Broncs, 65-61, on Saturday afternoon for their second straight MAAC win.

For the ninth time in the last 16 meetings, the final margin between Niagara and Rider was four points or less. The young, maturing Purple Eagles showed tremendous progress as they came up with key defensive stops and made clutch free throws in the final seconds to depart Alumni Gymnasium with their first win since January 14, 2007.

"I thought both teams played extremely hard," head coach Chris Casey said. "We were fortunate that we were able to get a lead and made some free throws down the stretch. We probably made one more play than they did and that's what happens in close games."  

The first half was played at a frenetic pace with seven ties and eight lead changes. A pair of free throws by Matt Scott with 22 seconds left knotted the score at 35-35.  Neither team scored again before intermission, as the teams went into halftime tied for the second straight meeting. NU shot 60 percent from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes, led by Emile Blackman's four 3-pointers.  Blackman finished with a Purple Eagle season-high six triples.

It was a series of runs to start the second half with the Broncs going on a 6-0 run, followed by seven straight points by Niagara as the Purple Eagles led 42-41. Trailing 49-47 with 10:43 remaining, a 3-pointer by Karonn Davis sparked a 10-0 run as the Broncs went scoreless for nearly seven minutes.

The Purple Eagles held their nerves in the final minute by going 6-for-6 at the free-throw line and finished the game with a season-high 93.8 (15-for-16) free throw percentage. Rider cut the lead to 59-58 on a 3-pointer by Teddy Okereafor with 28 seconds left. Blackman was fouled and made both of his free throws . On the ensuing possession, Okereafor missed two free throws while Karonn Davis sank two free throws for a 63-58 lead with 10 seconds left.

A 3-pointer by Shawn Valentine with two seconds remaining cut the lead to 63-61, but Blackman sealed the game with two free throws to lead all scorers with 30 points. Davis scored 11 points, while Scott added 10 points, and shared game-high rebound honors with Ramone Snowden as each snared seven boards.

"I'm proud of my guys (and) they stayed tough when needed to," Casey said. "We rebounded the ball well and defended well enough to win. Offensively, we did a really good job of moving the ball and getting some open looks."

Niagara will play its final road game of the season on Tuesday as the Purple Eagles face archrival Canisius at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the women's teams beginning at 5 p.m. on ESPN3.