HAMILTON, N.Y. – Senior guard
Marcus Hammond surpassed 1,000 career points in Niagara's (3-3) 70-59 victory over Colgate (3-4) on Monday night. The Purple Eagles, who maintained the lead for the entire game, snapped the Raiders' 16-game winning streak, dating back to 2016, at Cotterell Court against non-conference opponents.
Game Recap
First Half
- Hammond scored five straight points for the Purple Eagles to start the first half, reaching his 1,000th career point on a 3-pointer.
- Six points from Jordan Cintron and a bucket from Noah Thomasson gave the Purple Eagles a 13-7 lead over the Raiders with a little over 14 minutes to go in the first half.
- A dunk from Touba Traore a minute later put Niagara ahead by seven, 15-8.
- The Raiders cut the Niagara lead to one point, 15-14, but NU went on a 7-0 run, including five points from Greg Kuakumensah and two from Steven Levnaic, to take an eight-point advantage, 22-14.
- A 3-pointer from Hammond with a little under three and a half minutes remaining in the half gave the Purple Eagles a 10-point lead over Colgate, 30-20.
- Niagara went on a 5-0 run to close out the half and led the Raiders by 13, 39-26, going into halftime.
Second Half
- Niagara opened the second half on a 7-0 run, including another triple from Hammond and two points each from Cintron and Thomasson, to give the team its biggest lead of the game so far, 46-26.
- A jumper from Sam Iorio kept the Purple Eagles' lead at 20 points, 48-28, with about 15 minutes left in the game.
- With a little under 14 minutes left, Cintron sank a 3-pointer to keep Niagara ahead of the Raiders by 20, 53-33.
- Colgate came within 11 points of the Purple Eagles, 54-43, but a fourth 3-pointer from Hammond put Niagara up by 14, 57-43.
- Hammond made his third trey of the game with about five minutes to go, keeping NU in the lead, 64-49.
- Kuakumensah, Cintron and Thomasson all added points for the Purple Eagles in the remainder of the half and Niagara defeated Colgate, 70-59.
Eagle's Eye On
- Hammond led the Purple Eagles with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He set season-highs in both rebounds and assists. Hammond went 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the 3-point line.
- Cintron added a season-high 18 points. He went 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
- Kuakumensah had 10 points for the Purple Eagles.
- Iorio and Traore each brought down five rebounds, which is Traore's career-high.
- Iorio led the team in blocks with two and Iorio and Cintron led NU in steals with three each.
- Iorio dished out four assists, which is his season-high.
- The Purple Eagles shot 54.9 percent from the field.
Up Next
- Niagara opens its home and MAAC slates this weekend when the team hosts Monmouth on Friday, Dec. 3 at 7:00 p.m. and Fairfield on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1:00 p.m.
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