NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Sparked by an electric home crowd, the Purple and White used a late 12-0 run to earn a 76-73 win over Battle of the Bridge rival Canisius Friday night in MAAC men's basketball action from the Gallagher Center.
 
Aaron Gray (27) and Noah Thomasson (23) combined for 50 points to lead the way for Niagara who finished the game 25-for-59 from the field, 10-for-24 from 3-point land, and 16-for-21 at the line.
 
Game Recap
First Half
• The Golden Griffins took an early 7-2 lead before a 15-2 run by the Purple and White that gave Niagara a 17-9 lead over Canisius with 13:19 to go in the half.
• Aaron Gray and Noah Thomasson combined for ten of NU's 15 during the run to help the Purple Eagles take the lead.
• By the time the game reached the 8:38 mark of the Griffs tied the game at 22.
• The Purple Eagles would double up the Griffs, 8-4, over the next three minutes to take a 30-24 lead.
• Canisius would outscore the Purple and White 17-7 over the last 5:31 of the half to take a 41-37 advantage into the locker rooms.
 
Second Half
• The Purple Eagles would score the first four points of the half to tie the game at 41.
• Bryce Moore tied the game at 48 with a 3-pointer from the wing, erasing what was a five-point deficit for Niagara.
• The next ten minutes saw Niagara tie the score twice with each time resulting in a Canisius bucket on the other end and the Griffs eventually taking a six-point lead, 66-60.
• Harlan Obioha would find Gray for a 3-pointer and Thomasson would hit a pull up jumper with 4:27 to go, making it a 66-65 game in favor of the Griffs.
• Following the under-four media timeout, Gray would slam one home on a backdoor pass from Thomasson to give NU its first lead since late in the first half.
• Moments later following a pair of free throws from Sam Iorio, Thomasson would knock down a 3-pointer off the inbound capping a 12-0 run for NU and giving the Purple Eagles a 72-66 lead.
• The Purple and White would hold on over the waning minutes of play to earn the 76-73 win over their rival.
 
Niagara Notes
• Niagara improves to 110-84 all-time over Canisius and 6-1 under Greg Paulus.
• The crowd of 1,564 is the largest for NU this season.
• Gray led the team in scoring for the fifth time this season. The sophomore also grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
• Thomasson led NU with five assists, his fifth game this season with five or more helpers.
• Obioha played 13 minutes off the bench, contributing four point and four boards.
• The game was tied nine times and saw four lead changes.
• Niagara scored 30 points in the paint, 12 on second chance efforts and seven on the back end.
• The win ties the annual Canal Cup score at 9-9, with another two points available when Niagara heads to the Koessler Athletic Center on March 4 to end the regular season.
 
Up Next
• Niagara heads east on the I-90 to take on Siena at MVP Arena on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m.
 
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