NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Matt Scott scored a game-high 20 points, but a late second-half surge lifted the Canisius Golden Griffins over the Purple Eagles, 70-61, in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPNU on Friday night.

Scott sank a jumper to give Niagara (5-15; 3-6 MAAC) a 45-43 edge over Canisius (10-10; 5-4 MAAC) with 10 minutes remaining; however, it would be Niagara's last lead of the contest. Canisius would go ahead on an 8-2 run capped by a Jermaine Crumpton layup with 7:52 left to lead 51-47.

The Purple Eagles twice cut the lead to two points, with the latter coming after Emile Blackman connected on a pair of free throws to make the score, 53-51, with four minutes remaining. Though, the Golden Griffins answered with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to pull out their fourth straight win at the Gallagher Center.

"I thought both teams competed very hard and I thought we competed very, very hard," head coach Chris Casey said. "We needed to make a few more shots and a few more free throws, especially in that stretch towards the end of the game where the game was back-and-forth, and they were good offensively in that stretch and they did a good job in that stretch, so kudos to them."

NU jumped out to an early first half lead. An alley-oop dunk by Blackman gave the Purple Eagles their largest lead of the game, 11-5, with 12:32 on the clock. The Golden Griffins crept back into the game and went into halftime leading, 32-30.

Blackman joined Scott in double figures with 14 points and contributed a game-high three steals while Marvin Prochet led Niagara with nine rebounds on the day. Canisius was paced with three players finishing in double figures, but it was Malcolm McMillan leading the way with 17 points for the Golden Griffins.

The Battle of the Bridge is an all-sports competition between cross-town rivals Niagara University and Canisius College with a system awarding points to the victors after every meeting. Points accumulate throughout the course of the season and a cross-town champion is crowned at the conclusion of the athletic calendar. Following Friday's result, Canisius now leads the 2015-16 standings 9.5-4.5. Niagara gets a chance to even the season slate with Canisius on Feb. 25.

The Purple Eagles return to the court on Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. against the Siena Saints. The game will also air live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and on the Niagara Sports Network via AM 1400 WWWS and PurpleEagles.com/Watch.

For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499 or Tickets@Niagara.edu.

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