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GAME NOTES: A couple of teams in the middle of the pack in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference standings clash at the Gallagher Center tonight, as the Niagara Purple Eagles play host to the Canisius Golden Griffins.

This is a rematch of last Friday's battle that went to overtime before Canisius secured the 73-70 win. Unfortunately for the Griffs, the team fell back into the loss column for the second time in the last three outings on Monday with a 72-53 loss to Iona.

As for the Purple Eagles, they managed to stop their three-game slide on Sunday with an 86-77 triumph over Loyola-Maryland in conference play. The victory also evened the team's overall record at 12-12 on the season as they moved to 5-7 in league play.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the win for the Golden Griffs last week took a small bite out of Niagara's lead which is now 94-72.

Making just nine field goals in the first half and turning the ball over a total of 21 times in the contest made it tough for the Golden Griffins to stay close to Iona on the road earlier this week. Elton Frazier, Frank Turner and Julius Coles all finished with 11 points for Canisius, the former adding a team-best nine rebounds as well. For Turner, he shot just 4-of-10 from the floor and was guilty of eight miscues. Over the course of 23 games this season Turner has made good on 49.8 percent of his field goal chances and, as a result, is the leading scorer for the program with his 16.9 ppg. But more than just a scorer, Turner is also first with 116 assists and 52 steals and has hit the glass for almost five rebounds per game as well. Coles checks in with 15.2 ppg, but his 38.5 percent accuracy from the floor has dragged the entire group down to only 41.5 percent.

Against the Greyhounds, Niagara converted a hefty 68 percent from the field in the last 15 minutes of the first half to build a lead that would carry the team to an 86-77 victory on the road in Baltimore. Demetrius Williamson was credited with a game-high 20 points and cleared eight rebounds, while Bilal Benn posted 17 points and nine boards. Also scoring in double figures were Anthony Nelson and Rob Garrison with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Tyrone Lewis, who finished with nine points on just 1-of-5 shooting from the floor, remains the top scorer for this group with 16.7 ppg, but his mere 38 percent shooting from the floor is beginning to take its toll. Benn accounts for another 14.0 ppg and is the leader on the glass with 9.6 rpg, but he too has hit the wall in terms of shooting from the floor overall (.387) and behind the three-point line (.293). Nevertheless, the team's overall mark of 31.2 percent out on the perimeter is still better than the competition at 29.8 percent.

If Turner has anything to say about the outcome tonight the Griffs will certainly have a chance to pick up the victory. That said, don't count out the Purple Eagles who have revenge as a motivating factor.