LEWISTON, N.Y. – Four Canisius players scored in double figures, led by sophomore Phil Valenti and his game-high 15 points, as the Golden Griffins went on the road and defeated long-time rival Niagara 77-64 in the Gallagher Center Saturday afternoon. The win, Canisius' second straight, improves the team to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in MAAC play, while the Purple Eagles dropped their fourth straight to move to 1-5 overall and 1-1 in conference action.

Valenti was credited with his first career double-double in the win for the Blue and Gold, as he added 10 boards, two assists and two steals to go with his 15 points. Senior Josiah Heath scored a season-high 13 points and was credited with seven rebounds for the Griffs, while redshirt-freshman Jermaine Crumpton came off the bench to post 13 points in 14 minutes of action. Junior Jamal Reynolds matched a career-high with 12 points while collecting seven rebounds and two blocked shots in the victory for Canisius, which shot a season-high 49.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range as a team.

"We knew coming up here today that it was going to be an emotional day, but we stressed that we needed to play with poise and stay focused on our game plan," Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. "I'd like to thank the fans, especially our students who came up here today, because they gave us a lift in the second half. You look at the stats and we did a good job of sharing the ball and we didn't turn it over too much. We got tremendous effort from our bench today as well. This is a really good team win for this program."

Canisius led by as many as nine points midway through the first half and a Valenti put-back with 1:47 left before the halftime break put Canisius up eight at 34-26, but Niagara battled back and tied the game at 34-34 as the teams went into the locker room at halftime after Matt Scott and Emile Blackmon hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 54 seconds of the first stanza. In the second half, the score was knotted at 40-40 as the teams traded baskets back-and-forth, but an 11-0 run by Canisius over the span of 2:26 put the Griffs up 51-40 with 12:26 left on the clock. During that run, Canisius got five points from Crumpton, four points from senior Jeremiah Williams and a basket from Valenti.  

Niagara was able to trim the Griffs' lead to 55-47 with 11:03 left to play after Dominique Reed scored a fast-break lay-up, but a pair of 3-pointers from junior Kevin Bleeker and redshirt-freshman Kassius Robertson moved Canisius' margin back to 14 points at 61-47 with 10:04 left in regulation time. Niagara got within six points at 63-57 on a traditional 3-point play by Scott with 6:18 left on the clock, but Heath and Valenti combined to score the game's next five points to seal the win for the Griffs, the program's third-straight victory in the Gallagher Center.

Scott had 13 points in the losing effort for Niagara, which scored a season-high 64 points in the loss. Wesley Myers chipped in 11 points and four rebounds, while teammate Ramone Snowden added seven points and a team-high eight boards. Niagara shot 44.4 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from 3-point range, while Canisius won the battle on the glass by a 34-31 count. Canisius was good for 14 assists on 27-made field goals and ended the game by turning 16 Niagara turnovers into 21 points.

Canisius will take a week off for final exams before returning to the court Saturday, Dec. 13, when the team travels to play at UMass. Tipoff in Amherst, Mass., is set for 4 p.m.