LEWISTON — The score was tied at 45 midway through the second half. Niagara and Canisius were in a battle and everybody in the gym knew it.
Niagara had two choices in that moment: fold up and head to their sixth consecutive loss or step up and keep their postseason hopes alive.
They chose the latter.
The Purple Eagles went on a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes, leading to a 65-56 win over Canisius Tuesday at the Gallagher Center. The win snaps a five-game losing streak.
“I thought we had a really good halftime. We got off to a great start and then they cut into it at halftime, had it to five,” Niagara head coach Greg Paulus said. “So for us to regroup a little bit, I thought that we were talking about the right things in terms of what we needed to do to be successful, really positive, really energetic in the locker room and that showed in the second half.”
The run was helped by a raucous crowd that exploded with every stop on one end and make on the other. It was a crowd that was spurred on by Paulus waving his arms in the air, clapping in rhythm with the “de-fense” chants.
The crowd included multiple former players in the stands to honor Purple Eagles athletic trainer John Munro for working his 1,000th game.
“I think it really elevated our guys at different points,” Paulus said. “There were times, it’s our third game in five days and so to have our student section, which was fantastic, have the community come out, we needed their energy and they really elevated us.”
Niagara (6-17, 3-10 MAAC) flew out of the gates, taking a 34-16 lead while shooting 12-for-14 from the field, 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
“We played with one another,” Niagara junior Josiah Sabino said. “We trusted one another. I feel like last game, the ball stuck a little bit. But now we were just able to come together, pass the ball, make the one more play and just play easy, simple basketball.”
But the entire first half changed from there when Canisius’ Brendan Oliver hit a layup and converted the and-one to bring it closer at 34-19. That kickstarted a big run of their own from the visitors, who ended the first half on a 17-4 run to go into the break down 38-33.
The second half appeared to be going the same way as the first half with the Purple Eagles getting out to an early lead before Canisius (8-16, 3-10) fought back. But the aforementioned Purple Eagles run put the game away.
During the second half, the Golden Griffins shot 36% from the field, 1-for-12 from 3 and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
“We stopped guarding them. They outhustled us,” Canisius head coach Jim Christian said. “They beat us to like every loose ball during a five-minute stretch to go on a 14-0 run. Offensively, we had ridiculous open shots and we couldn’t hit one of them. It’s been kind of a thing for us. We get to the point where it’s winning time and we break. We just fundamentally break.”
The Purple Eagles are back in action at 2 p.m. on Saturday, when they go to Quinnipiac.