Game 9
SCORE	St. Bonaventure 87 – Niagara 70
RECORDS	St. Bonaventure (7-4) – Niagara (2-7)
LEADING SCORERS	Niagara –Marcus Hammond (21) | St. Bonaventure – Dominick Welch (17)
LOCATION	Reilly Center

 
OLEAN, N.Y. – Marcus Hammond led all scorers with a career-high 21 points as the Purple Eagles dropped a Big 4 battle to St. Bonaventure, 87-70, Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.

Game Summary
The Bonnies went on an early 8-0 run to take an 11-2 lead over the Purple Eagles. St. Bonaventure took a 10-point lead, 16-6, with 12:39 to go in the half, but a bucket from Greg Kuakumensah brought NU back within single digits of the Bonnies, 16-8. St. Bonaventure sank a three, but Kuakumensah answered with a triple of his own to keep Niagara within eight points of the Bonnies, 19-11.

A trey from Justin Roberts and a bucket from Marcus Hammond cut the Bonnies' lead to just five points, 28-23, with seven minutes left to play in the first half. The Bonnies, however, began to pull away and led the Purple Eagles, 43-30, going into halftime.

St. Bonaventure extended its lead to 19 points, 49-30, in the first 3:10 of the second half. Threes from Hammond and Roberts and a layup from Nicholas Kratholm brought Niagara within 15 points of the Bonnies, 53-38, with 14:39 left to go in the game.

With the Bonnies ahead 64-46, the Purple Eagles went on an 8-0 run, including five points from Hammond, to cut the St. Bonaventure lead to nine points, 64-55, with a little over seven and a half minutes to go. A Bonnies dunk extended their lead to 11, 66-55, but another triple from Roberts once again brought NU within striking distance, 66-58.

With 5:22 remaining in the game, a layup from Kratholm put Niagara within six points of the lead, 68-62, but the Bonnies gained momentum on both ends of the floor, allowing the Purple Eagles just eight more points to come away with the 87-70 win.

Eagle's Eye On…

• Marcus Hammond led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. Hammond went a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe, which is his career-best. He also added a team-high two steals.
• Shandon Brown led NU in rebounding with a career-best nine rebounds and also dished out a career-high nine assists.
• Nicholas Kratholm added a career-high 10 points for the Purple Eagles.

Inside the Numbers

• The Purple Eagles shot a season-high 95.2 percent (20-21) from the free throw line.

Up Next

• Niagara takes on Big 4 rival Buffalo at Alumni Arena on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 2:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN3 and audio will be provided by the Niagara Sports Network via 107.3 FM/Am 1400 and www.purpleeagles.com/watch.

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