GAME 26
SCORE	Fairfield Stags 61, Niagara Purple Eagles 60
RECORDS	Fairfield (11-15, 7-8 MAAC) | Niagara (9-17, 7-8 MAAC)
LEADING SCORERS	Fairfield – Taj Benning (14) | Niagara – James Towns (16)
LOCATION	Alumni Hall

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara Purple Eagles were unable to hold off a second half surge by the Fairfield Stags as they were edged in the final seconds, 61-60, on Friday night to stop a two-game win streak.

Game Summary
Niagara's bid for its first win at Fairfield since 2015 was denied in the final seconds when Taj Benning connected on a floater in the paint with 11 seconds remaining to give Fairfield a 61-60 lead. Marcus Hammond, who beat Rider on a buzzer beater in January, had his jumper just outside of the paint rim out as time expired.
 
It was a tale of two halves with the Purple Eagles dominating the first half. The Purple Eagles soared to a 17-3 lead, connecting on 7 of 11 shots including going 3-for-5 from behind the arc, eight minutes into the contest. NU maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the half. A Damani Thomas triple with 43 seconds remaining gave the Purple Eagles their largest lead of the game, 38-21. Fairfield scored the half's final points as NU led 38-23 at the break.
 
The second belonged to the Stags as they started the second half on a 10-0 run with Niagara going scoreless nearly six minutes into the second stanza. Niagara led 48-43 with 7:53 on the clock before the Stags went on a 7-0 run in a 92-second span for a 50-48 lead; their first lead since the score was 1-0.
 
The Purple Eagles faced a slender deficit at 54-51 with 3:30 remaining when they reeled off eight straight points. Marcus Hammond connected on a baseline jumper and Justin Roberts drained 3-pointers on consecutive trips as NU held on 59-54 advantage with 1:40 left.
 
Niagara led 60-56 heading into the final minute. Fairfield's Landon Taliaferro connected a deep 3-pointer to cut the lead to one point. After an empty possession by Niagara, Benning's floater in the paint proved to be the game-winning points.
 
Eagle's Eye On…

• James Towns scored a game-high 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting. Towns dished out a game-high five assists to tie a season-high and grabbed six rebounds for a share of team-high honors.
• Damani Thomas netted a career-high eight points.

 
Inside The Numbers

• Niagara's 15-point first half lead and 23 first half points allowed are season-best numbers.
• NU outscored Fairfield in bench points (27-15), points off turnovers (21-4), and fast break points (10-8).
• The Purple Eagles had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2) for the 16^th time this season.
   

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles close out their weekend road trip against Marist on Sunday, February 23 at 2 p.m.
• Coverage of the game will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Niagara Sports Network via 107.3 FM/AM 1400 and www.PurpleEagles.com/Watch.

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