NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men's basketball team (7-7, 2-3 MAAC) defeated Canisius (5-10, 1-3 MAAC) in the first Battle of the Bridge meeting of the season on Thursday.

Game Recap
First Half

• A 3-pointer from Marcus Hammond tied the score, 3-3, early in the half.
• Trailing by two, 7-5, Jordan Cintron sank a triple and had a dunk to put NU in the lead, 10-7, with a little under 15 and a half minutes on the clock.
• A 3-pointer from Justin Roberts kept NU ahead, 13-9.
• Canisius took a 26-19 lead over the Purple Eagles, but jumpers from Noah Thomasson and Roberts left Niagara trailing by just three points, 26-23.
• Two free throws from Greg Kuakumensah put the Purple Eagles back in the lead, 29-28, with about two minutes remaining in the first half, but the Griffs had the lead, 31-29, going into halftime.

Second Half

• A bucket from Hammond tied things up, 31-31, in the first 15 seconds of the second half.
• Two points from Thomasson reclaimed the lead for the Purple Eagles, 35-33.
• The Purple Eagles and the Griffs traded buckets and two layups from Cintron gave Niagara the lead, 44-41.
• Canisius took a three-point lead, 47-44, before the Purple Eagles went on a 10-0 run, capped by a trey from Hammond, to begin to pull away, 54-47.
• A third 3-pointer from Hammond gave Niagara a 10-point lead over the Griffs, 61-51, with 4:43 left in the game.
• Two layups from Thomasson helped NU to an 11-point lead, 65-54.
• Cintron sank a three as time expired on the shot clock to score NU's final bucket of the game and the Purple Eagles defeated the Griffs, 68-58.

Eagle's Eye On

• Hammond led all scorers with a season-high 28 points. He went 9-for-16 from the field and 3-for-7 from 3-point range. He also brought down five rebounds and had a team-high two steals.
• Cintron recorded his first double-double of the season with 14 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. He went 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Cintron also dished out a team-high four assists, tying his career-high.
• Thomasson added 13 points for the Purple Eagles, shooting 6-for-8 from the field.
• Sam Iorio had a team-high two blocks.
• The Purple Eagles shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field in the second half and 50 percent (25-for-50) from the field overall.
• Over the course of the game, the score was tied 11 times and the lead changed 13 times.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles travel to New York City to take on Iona on Sunday, Jan. 16 and Manhattan on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

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