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Niagara sweeps Canisius, wins Battle of the Bridge 94-81

Posted at 10:23 PM, Feb 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-10 23:44:26-05

For the second time in less than a month Niagara stunned Canisius on the hardwood, topping their Big 4 Rivals 94-81 Friday night, to sweep the season series and win the "Battle of the Bridge."

The Purple Eagles also defeated the Griffs 91-84 on Jan. 23.

Canisius raced out to a 9-4 lead less than three minutes in, highlighted by a slam from senior Phil Valenti.

But, the hot-shooting Purple Eagles got back into it, and put the heat on, hitting 68 percent from the floor. Ultimately, Niagara out-muscled the Griffs on the boards winning the battle 44-31 and used that to outscore them 20-7 in second chance points.

One of five in double-figures, Matt Scott powered Niagara with 18 points and nine rebounds.  Khalil Dukes and Kevin Larkin each added 16 in the victory.

Niagara Falls native Jermaine Crumpton scored a game-high 25 points for Canisius, but only seven of those came in the second half.