By Paul Gotham
LEWISTON, N.Y. — Antoine Mason led a quartet in double figures as the Niagara Purple Eagles trumped their Big 4 rival UB Bulls, 92-81 in front of 1,937 at the Taps Gallagher Center, Wednesday night.
Mason hit 8 of 14 from the floor and on more than one occasion had the answer Niagara needed when UB tried to make a run.
“We see the result of Antoine’s work on the court,” said first-year Niagara coach, Chris Casey. “What he did tonight and what he did (in Niagara’s first game) against Seton Hall is because of his work. He scores the ball in different ways. He leads by example.”
After leading by 14 at half, Niagara watched as UB went on an 11-1 run to trim the advantage to 48-44. The Purple Eagles responded with six straight capped by a Mason layup in transition after he slipped behind the defense, and teammate Marvin Jordan found him with a three-quarter court pass.
Niagara ran the lead back to a dozen when Tahjere McCall cut backdoor along the baseline, took a Ramone Snowden feed from the free throw line and finished with a thunderous dunk.
Again, UB fought back. Xavier Ford and Shannon Evans converted two free throws apiece. Ford scored on a rebound and putback, and the lead was back to five at 60-55.
Mason stemmed the rally with a pullup three at the 11:56 mark.
“That was a big momentum play,” noted UB first-year head coach, Bob Hurley.
The redshirt junior followed with a baseline drive past UB big man Javon McCrea to stretch Niagara’s advantage to 70-61.
Coming into the game UB had won four straight against Niagara and 10 of the last 12 meetings between the Big 4 rivals.
“There are bragging rights,” Mason said of the win. “We haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here. I’m happy that we got the W, but it’s like a regular game to us. Every game is important. We come out with the same thing. We got to focus. We got to execute.”
The game started on a frantic pace with the teams taking a combined 25 shots in the first 5:12.
“Both teams played extremely hard,” Casey stated. “If you’re a fan of college basketball, I think you really enjoyed that game.”
Niagara got the better of it grabbing their first double-double digit advantage at the 7:42 mark. Mason hit a catch-and-shoot three. Ramone Snowden followed with a tap in and on the next possession the freshman guard found Joe Thomas open in the paint for an easy deuce and a 25-15 lead.
“They hustled. They scrapped,” Hurley said of Niagara. “We came out of the gate losing the effort game. We gave up a lot of offensive rebound-putbacks in the first half which dug a hole for ourselves. We have to get back to the drawing board defensively and figure out a way to not let our opponent shoot such a high percentage from the field like they did. To give up 92 points is unacceptable.”
McCrea scored 20 of his game-high 31 after the break. His jumper from the right wing trimmed UB’s deficit to five at 77-72. Moments later he hit a pair of free throws and pulled UB within four.
“In the first half I thought we doubled him pretty effectively,” Casey explained. “He’s a smart player. If you watch him, as soon as the ball came in, he spun quickly, and he attacked before you could double him. Then he’s inside your defender and if he misses the shot, which he did miss a couple, he’s inside you for the offensive rebound. We made an attempt late in the game to try to on the catch get some space, so now he can’t use your body and spin. Maybe on two possessions we were effective with that. He’s an outstanding player. I don’t think you stop him. You try to limit him.”
The senior forward led all with 14 rebounds.
Joshua Freelove added 15 for the Bulls while Ford chipped in 10.
Snowden and Tahjere McCall followed Mason with 15 points apiece. Marcus Ware chipped in 11.
The game’s pace contributed to sloppy play with the two teams combining for 33 turnovers while handing out just 18 assists.
UB hosts West Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday.
Niagara continues the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic next Thursday, November 21st against USC Upstate.
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