LEWISTON, N.Y. ? Niagara senior Benson Egemonye scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the final 5:21 to help lift the host Purple Eagles to a 75-69 win over Canisius College Monday night in a sold-out Gallagher Center. Niagara improves to 15-6 overall and 6-3 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 7-13 overall and 2-8 in league play.

For Canisius, junior guard Frank Turner scored a team-high 22 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds. Julius Coles added 17 points and five boards, with teammate Elton Frazier chipping in 10 points and six rebounds. The Griffs shot 41.4 percent from the field and a season-high 42.9 percent from 3-point range.

Niagara led by as many as 14 points with 14:09 left in regulation time before the Griffs mounted a charge to get back into the game. Trailing 54-43 with 12:26 left on the clock, Canisius cut Niagara's cushion to 54-45 when Frazier slammed on down off a missed jumper by Turner. The Griffs hung around and trailed 59-53 with 8:21 left in the game before Coles scored five-straight points to make the game 59-58 in favor of the Purple Eagles.

The Griffs took their first lead of the game moments later on two charity tosses by Coles with 5:39 left to play. Egemonye tied the game back up for Niagara the next time down the floor with two free throws, and after Canisius turned the ball on its ensuing possession, the Purple Eagles took the lead for good at 65-63 on a layup by Rob Garrison with 4:06 left to play.

“I gotta give these guys credit. I didn't think we played with the edge we had been play with in the last six or seven games in the first half,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. “But in the second half, we came out and really clamped down defensively and started doing the things that have been good to us by defending and taking things away and really pounding the glass. We got out in transition and got back into the game. Something that we need to continue to learn from is shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. When we got up we had some turnovers that proved to be the difference, but I'm proud of the way the guys hung in there and we know that we're right there in this league."

The Griffs ended the night with a 42-26 advantage on the glass, led by Tomas Vazquez-Simmons' game-high eight boards. All five Canisius starters had at least two rebounds in the game and junior Chris Gadley returned to action with six points and six rebounds in 12 minutes of play off the bench after missing six-straight games with an injury.

Canisius will return to action Thursday, Jan. 29, when the team travels to league-leading Siena. Tipoff in the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., is set for 7 p.m.

Game Notes: The game between the two schools was the 162nd all-time meeting... Canisius has played more games against Niagara than another opponent... Turner has scored 20-plus points in four-straight games, making him the first Canisius player to accomplish that since Darrell Barley did it during the 1995-96 season... Turner's 22 points gives him 1,088 career points, which ranks 22nd all-time in school history... His 22 points also marks the 60th time in his career where he has scored in double figures... Canisius scored 20 of its 34 points in the paint in the second half and held a 15-12 advantage on fastbreak points.