NEW ROCHELLE — The Niagara Purple Eagles wrapped up their MAAC opening weekend with a convincing 74-58 win over the defending conference champion Iona Gaels on Sunday.
Niagara snapped several streaks in the win. The Purple Eagles collected their first win in the series since January 2013, snapping a seven-game skid, while picking up their first win at Iona since February 2009.
There were nine lead changes through the opening 10 minutes. Trailing 13-12, a layup by Kahlil Dukes sparked an 11-2 run as the Purple Eagles regained the lead for the rest of the game.
Niagara kept its composure when the Gaels cut Niagara’s lead to 31-28 with two minutes left in the half with a game-changing 14-0 run. Matt Scott started the run with consecutive 3-pointers and Shane Gatling drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer as the Purple Eagles went into halftime leading 40-28. NU opened the second half with baseline jumpers by Dominic Robb and Marvin Prochet, followed by a free throw by Dwayne Pow, for a 45-28 lead with 18:20 remaining.
Iona answered with a 13-0 spurt to trim the lead to 45-41. However, Dukes halted the run with a 3-pointer as NU hit back a with 9-2 run, including scoring six straight, for 54-43 lead with 9:24 left.
The game of runs continued over the next five minutes. The Gaels scored five straight to cut Niagara’s lead to 54-48, before NU seized the momentum for good with an 11-0 run. Scott began the spurt with four straight points, with Dukes, Gatling and Marvin Prochet all providing scoring during the run as NU built the game’s largest lead at 65-48 with five minutes left.
Niagara wraps up its four-game road trip against the Kent State Golden Flashes on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The radio broadcast will be on WGR 550 AM and online via PurpleEagles.com.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
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