NIAGARA UNIV., NY – The Purple Eagles (5-4, 1-1 MAAC) used a late 7-0 run to defeat visiting Eastern Michigan (2-9) 67-60 Sunday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action from the Gallagher Center.
 
Three Purple Eagles finished with double-digit scoring numbers, including Noah Thomasson who finished with a team-best 20 points. As a team, Niagara shot 50.0 percent from the field and 73.3 percent at the line.
 
Game Recap
First Half
• Eastern Michigan scored the first four points of the game, before Niagara answered with an 8-4 run to tie the game at eight with 15:27 on the clock.
• David Mitchell, who tied the game with a layup gave NU its first lead of the contest when he completed the and-1 chance at the line.
• Eastern Michigan would take a six-point lead, 17-11, over the next five minutes on the heels of a 9-2 run.
• With Niagara still down by six with 8:31 to go, the Purple and White would chip away, making it a three-point contest, 24-21 with 5:59 remaining in the half.
• Braxton Bayless would beat the shot clock to tie the game at 24-24 less than half a minute later.
• With the game now tied, NU would take a four-point lead via a 8-2 run that made the score 32-28 with 2:13 left in the half.
• Eastern Michigan would end the half outscoring Niagara 10-3 to take a 38-35 lead into the break.
 
Second Half
• The Purple and White started the half on a 11-2 spurt that resulted in a 46-40 lead at the 16:40 mark of the half.
• A six-minute scoreless drought for the Purple Eagles resulted in a 50-48 lead for the Eagles.
• That would be the largest lead of the half for Eastern Michigan as NU rallied to go up 60-57 as the game reached its final media timeout with 3:11 left in the contest.
• Niagara, who scored just before the media timeout scored five-unanswered out of the timeout, highlighted by an Iorio dunk that gave the Purple Eagles its largest lead of the contest, 65-57.
• After Eastern Michigan made it a five-point game, Thomasson would sink two at the line to seal the win for the Purple Eagles.
 
Niagara Notes
• Sunday was the fourth meeting all-time between NU and EMU, with Niagara improving to 2-2 in the series, including 1-0 at home.
• Niagara improves to 5-2 in their last seven after starting the season with back-to-back losses.
• Sunday marked the third time Niagara shot 50.0 percent or better from the floor this season – with each game resulting in a win.
• Thomasson eclipsed 20-points for the fourth time this season and ninth time in his Niagara career. It was also the 12th time in the last two seasons that the Houston, Texas, native led the Purple Eagles in scoring.
• Thomasson recorded four of NU's nine assists.
• Iorio, who finished with seven points, led NU with 10 rebounds – his first double-digit rebounding effort this season.
• Aaron Gray finished with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 2-for-6 from 3-point range.
• Niagara scored 38 of its 67 points in the paint, while the Purple Eagle reserves contributed 16 points, led by Mitchell who scored 11.
• Gray reached double-digits for the fifth time this season, while Mitchell surpassed 10 in the box score for the second time.
 
Up Next
• Niagara heads to the Garden State to take on NJIT next Sunday, Dec. 18 at 2 p.m. 
 
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