LEWISTON — Niagara had given up a 16-0 run and they were trailing 53-45 with 7:30 to go in the game.
It looked like they were going to head to their 20th loss of the season and were going to see their road to the MAAC tournament get even tougher.
Then Brian Griffith hit a 3-pointer to bring the score to within five at 53-48.
That was the spark that Niagara needed. It got them back into the game.
It got them believing again.
It started a 25-15 run over the last 7:23 to go in the game to give Niagara a 70-68 win over Iona, Sunday, at the Gallagher Center.
The win means Niagara (7-19, 4-12) is now 4-9 in games decided by single-digits this year.
“For us, we’ve been right there, and we lost four games by six points,” Niagara head coach Greg Paulus said. “This was a similar type situation, up by two under 10 seconds, and really proud of the defense that we played and was able to get that final stop this time.”
The final two possessions of the game decided the contest. It started when the Purple Eagles drove in and Justin Hawkins missed a layup but the whistle blew for a goaltend to give Niagara a two-point lead.
The Gaels still had a chance though when C.J. Anthony had a look at the hoop but his layup stayed out.
“I thought we had a clean look at it. I think angles-wise, probably tough to be on the baseline part of it, but it’s a clean look,” Iona head coach Dan Geriot said. “… I think it was a fine look for us, they made theirs on kind of an over help and we got to make ours.”
The first half was all about the difference between the first and second 10 minute stretches. In the opening ten minutes, the two teams were tied at 12 and shot a combined 9-for-22 from the field. In the final ten minutes, the Purple Eagles outscored the Gaels 22-20 as they shot 8-for-13 from the field while the Gaels (15-12, 7-9) shot 6-for-12 from the field.
The biggest play for the Purple Eagles happened right before the buzzer when they had a broken play which wound up in the hands of Vice Zanki for a layup to give his team a 34-30 lead heading into the intermission.
Niagara struggled in foul trouble in this one with 16 team fouls and five different players with at least two fouls. One of those players was Josiah Sabino who had three fouls.
“You just got to keep playing,” Sabino said. “We had a couple questionable calls in the first half, so it’s just basketball. The refs gotta even it out. It was awesome that we were able to just still compete. There were still questionable calls but I feel like the refs allowed us to keep playing and that was awesome, it was a real physical game and those are the best games for Niagara.”
The win means the Purple Eagles are still chasing Manhattan and Sacred Heart as they head into their final four games of the season. Over that stretch, the most simple road to the 10th seed for the Purple Eagles is that they go 4-0 and hope that either the Jaspers or Pioneers go 0-4.
The next team coming up for the Purple Eagles is Mount Saint Mary’s at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.