Marvin Jordan and Juan’ya Green each had 20-plus scoring outputs to help lead the Niagara Purple Eagles to a 92-75 win over the UMBC Retrievers on Wednesday.
“I thought we did what we had to do tonight,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We played a team that was down, but I thought we took care of business and did what we had to do. We had three days off after break (and) you’re rusty and lethargic but it was good to get back out there and get some game action.”
Niagara (5-8) had a season-high 12 steals, a season-low seven turnovers and scored its most points in a regular season non-overtime game since beating Siena 100-85 on Feb. 27, 2009 from the Gallagher Center in tonight’s win over UMBC (1-11).
The Purple Eagles ended the first half on a 17-4 run to cap a high-scoring half with a 52-42 lead. Jordan got the Purple and White going by scoring 11 points through the first seven minutes of action; he finished the half with 16 points.
“He started off good and played well and he is one of the keys for us to be good for the rest of the season,” backcourt teammate Green said about Jordan.
In the second half, NU built its largest lead in the game, 81-55, when Jordan connected on his sixth and final 3-pointer with 8:47 remaining. Jordan led the Purple Eagles in scoring for the third time this season with 23 points on the night and was one 3-pointer shy of tying his career-high. Green finished with 21 points and tied a game-high with five assists.
“MJ got us going by making some shots and Juan’ya did a good job running the team,” Mihalich said.
Scooter Gillette scored 11 points, one-point shy of tying his career-high, and had a game-high six points. Malcolm Lemmons, Josh Turner and Ameen Tanksley combined for 24 points and six rebounds.
Niagara will host Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure (6-5) on Friday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. To secure your seat, purchase your ticket in advance by contacting the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286-8499 or at tickets@purpleeagles.com.
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