BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Niagara Purple Eagles came into Friday night's Battle of the Bridge winners of eight straight games on the road.
The Canisius Golden Griffins had no plans on letting that streak get to nine.
Canisius led wire to wire in a 69-59 men's basketball win over Niagara at the Koessler Athletic Center. The win earns a split of the season series for the Golden Griffs after the Purple Eagles took the previous meeting in 69-64 in Lewiston earlier this month.
Four of five starters for Canisius (11-15, 6-10 MAAC) scored in double figures, paced by 16 points from Tre Dinkins and a key 15 points from Devean Williams, who knocked down a trio of threes.
Braxton Bayless had 17 points for Niagara (14-12, 10-6 MAAC) with Harlan Obioha contributing a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
It was Williams' last triple of the game that proved critical, giving Canisius a 66-57 lead with 1:02 after Niagara had nearly rallied from a 21-point deficit. A layup from Bayless made it a 53-50 game with 7:09 to go, concluding a 23-8 spanning 11 minutes to get the Purple Eagles back in the game.
Williams immediately responded with a mid-range jumper to push the lead back to five, and Niagara was not able to make it a one-score game after that.
Canisius jumped out to a big 39-18 lead in the first half thanks in part to a hot start. The Griffs started the game on a 12-0 run, including consecutive 3s from Dinkins and Cam Palesse.
An 13-2 run later in the first half for Canisius helped them take a 39-25 lead into halftime.
Three-point shooting was a key advantage for the Griffs, going 7-for-16 from downtown, while the Purple Eagles shot 2-of-10 from three.
Canisius shot 46% for the game, while Niagara shot 36%.
Next up: Niagara hosts Rider on Friday, while Canisius hosts Mount St. Mary's on Friday.
