NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Emile Blackman help lead a late surge to lift the Niagara Purple Eagles over the Marist Red Foxes, 76-72, on Thursday night at the Gallagher Center.

"We did a very good job down the stretch offensively of getting good shots, handling the basketball, finishing some plays, (and) making free throws. I thought that was the difference in the game," head coach Chris Casey said. "I thought our defense overall was pretty good, too. One of the things we wanted to do was to get them off of the 3-point line because they are a good 3-point shooting team and I thought we did a good of that also."

Niagara (7-21; 5-12 MAAC) led for the entire game, and by as many as 11 points in the first half, until a David Knudsen jumper gave Marist (5-21; 2-15 MAAC) its first lead of the game, 46-44, with 15:22 left to play. The Red Foxes went on an 11-6 run over the next six minutes to take its largest lead, 57-50, with 9:13 remaining. However, Niagara responded with an 11-4 run of its own over the next five minutes, with a Dominic Robb free throw tying the contest at, 61-61, with 4:07 left.

The Purple Eagles then followed with a game-changing 9-0 run. A Maurice Taylor Jr. layup with 2:57 left gave Niagara a 63-61 lead and Blackman sank a 3-pointer 42 seconds later to extend the lead to 66-61. After an empty Marist possession, a foul sent Blackman to the free-throw line where he calmly sank two shots to push NU's lead to 68-61 with 1:28 to play. A Karonn Davis pair of free throws capped Niagara's 9-0 run down the stretch and pushed NU's lead to 70-61 with 1:10 remaining. The Red Foxes closed the gap to six points with 15 seconds left, but Davis erased any hope of a Marist comeback by draining a free throw with 10 seconds left as the Purple Eagles swept the season series for the first time since the 2012-13 season.

Blackman scored seven of Niagara's final 15 points and finished with a game-high 21 points. He was joined in double figures by Robb with 13 points, who also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, Cameron Fowler and Matt Scott each with 12 points and Maurice Taylor Jr. with a season-high 10 points; the game marked the first time Niagara has had five players finish in double-figures this season.

The Purple Eagles wrap up their home schedule on Saturday at 3 p.m. against the Fairfield Stags. For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499 (TIXX) or tickets@niagara.edu.

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