NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Multiple Purple Eagles set career-highs as NU (4-6, 0-2 MAAC) defeated Buffalo State (1-8, 0-3 SUNYAC), 112-52, on Sunday. It is Niagara's largest margin of victory in the modern era as a Division I team. The Purple Eagles last defeated a team by 60 or more points during the 1914-15 season, when they defeated Canisius, 78-11.
Game Recap
First Half
- The Purple Eagles had a three-point lead, 10-7, when they went on an 8-0 run, including two points from Marcus Hammond and five from Justin Roberts, to extend their lead, 18-7, with a little under 15 and a half minutes left in the half.
- A triple from Roberts gave Niagara a 12-point lead over the Bengals, 21-9.
- A trey from Rob Brown III and a jumper from Roberts put Niagara ahead of Buffalo State, 26-9, with a little over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
- A 3-pointer from Sam Iorio and a layup from Nicholas Kratholm helped the Purple Eagles to a 37-19 advantage over the Bengals.
- Another three from Roberts put Niagara ahead by 21 points, 40-21, with about eight minutes left on the clock.
- The Purple Eagles dominated the rest of the half, with Kratholm (four), Jordan Cintron (two), Greg Kuakumensah (five), Shandon Brown (three) and Hammond (five) all adding points.
- NU led the Bengals, 60-32, at halftime. Niagara last scored 60 or more points in a half when the Purple Eagles scored 61 in the second half versus Canisius on Jan. 27, 2018.
Second Half
- The Purple Eagles went on an 8-0 run to open the second half and take a 68-32 lead over Buffalo State.
- With a 71-38 lead, NU scored nine straight points, including two points each from Cintron, Brown III and Noah Thomasson and three points from Julian Mackey, to extend its lead, 80-38.
- Mackey sank a 3-pointer with a little under 11 minutes left in the game to give NU a 43-point lead, 83-40.
- Niagara went on an 11-0 run, which included four more points from Mackey and another triple from Brown III, to get ahead of the Bengals, 98-42.
- A jumper from Touba Traore and a free throw from Steven Levnaic put the Purple Eagles into triple digits, 101-44, with 4:36 left.
- Niagara remained in control for the rest of the half, defeating the Bengals, 112-52.
Eagle's Eye On
- Roberts led the Purple Eagles in scoring with 17 points, which is just one short of his career-high. He shot 50 percent from the 3-point line, making four 3-pointers to tie his career-best. He also dished out a season-high four assists.
- Hammond scored 14 points and had five assists.
- Brown III scored a career-high 13 points, shooting a career-best 5-for-7 from the field.
- Mackey and Kratholm each added 12 points for NU, which is a career-high for both.
- Traore scored a career-high 10 points.
- Mackey led the team in steals with a career-best four and had a career-best three assists.
- Cintron brought down a team-high seven rebounds to surpass 500 career rebounds. He also added three steals and a career-high four assists.
- Thomasson dished out a career-high and team-high six assists.
- The Purple Eagles shot 61.3 percent from the field. The team scored 66 points in the paint and 62 points off the bench.
- Niagara last scored 100 points in regulation in a 100-76 victory over Marist on Feb. 23, 2018.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles take on the University at Albany as part of the Big 4 Tripleheader at the KeyBank Center on Saturday, Dec. 18 at 2:00 p.m.
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