GAME NOTES: The Canisius Golden Griffins will try to build on a dramatic victory from earlier this week when they visit the Gallagher Center to take on Niagara in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.

Sophomore Zach Lewis lifted Canisius to a 60-57 victory at Saint Peter's on Wednesday night by hitting a 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds left in regulation. That late field goal also ended the team's three-game losing streak and got the Golden Griffins off to a 1-0 start in MAAC play. They won't return home to the Koessler Athletic Center until Dec. 18, a span of more than one month between home games.

Niagara is back on campus to try to end a three-game slide. The Purple Eagles traveled to St. John's on Tuesday night and came away with a 70-57 setback. Following this tilt, they will get a week off until Davidson comes to town next Saturday.

Canisius has won three straight against Niagara after the Griffs swept both meetings last season. Overall, the Purple Eagles lead the long-standing series, 100-76.

On Wednesday night, Canisius trailed for nearly 30 minutes of game time until Kevin Bleeker drained a 3-pointer from the corner with just over two minutes to play. In fact, the team has trailed at halftime in all three of its wins this season, a somewhat troubling trend the Golden Griffins have been able to overcome thus far. Phil Valenti (10.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) finished with a game-high 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor in Wednesday's win, while Lewis (13.3 ppg) added 12 points to go along with three steals, and Josiah Heath tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Canisius committed only nine turnovers for the game and is +4.0 in turnover margin for the season. However, the Griffs are shooting just 35.4 percent as a team while averaging a mere 59.5 ppg.

Niagara has also struggled at the offensive end of the floor, shooting only a collective 35.3 percent and averaging just 56.8 ppg. The Purple Eagles are -12.4 in scoring margin as they have allowed the opposition to shoot a healthy 48 percent from the field through five games. Emile Blackman (12.6 ppg) and Ramone Snowden (10.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg) are the only two players on the team averaging double figures to this point. Niagara opened the second half of Tuesday's contest with a 22-11 run, but that was simply to trim the margin to 46-45 after a lackluster first half. St. John's then responded with a 16-5 spurt to end the threat as the Purple Eagles went on to shoot a mere 30 percent for the game (21-of-70). Blackman led the way with 21 points in the loss, while Snowden recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards.

The first team to 60 may very well win this game, assuming either squad can reach that total. The Griffs are bound to start paying the price for their slow starts, but an equally inept Niagara team may not be the team to do it.