GAME NOTES: The Niagara Purple Eagles shoot for their third consecutive win tonight, as they entertain the Saint Peter's Peacocks in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at the Gallagher Center. Winners of two straight and five of their last seven outings, the Eagles now sit just one-game back of both Rider and Siena for first place in the league standings at 10-5. The team was most recently in play on Saturday, when it notched an 81-75 triumph over Iona. With the victory, Niagara improved to 16-8 overall and 8-2 at home. As for SPC, it won for the first time in 13 road outings this past Saturday, defeating Canisius by a 75-68 score. The win put an end to a two-game slide and improved the Peacocks to a still dismal 6-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play. In terms of the all-time series, Niagara owns a 39-24 advantage over SPC and that includes 79-59 victory in an meeting just last month.

The Peacocks drained 11-of-20 shots from long distance and 24-of-36 at the foul line, as they outlasted Canisius this past weekend. The team won the battle on the boards, 48-42, and that helped compensate for its lackluster 35.7 percent shooting performance from the floor. Wesley Jenkins led the charge with 18 points and five boards, while Nick Leon had 17 points. Darrell Lampley chipped in with 11 points, and Todd Sowell recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. On the season, Sowell is one of the few players around averaging a double-double, with team highs of 12.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Jenkins nips at his heels with 12.2 ppg and he is shooting 39.6 percent from beyond the arc. Lampley puts forth 10.5 ppg, and Leon rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.4 ppg. Overall, SPC is turning in 66.8 ppg, although it is also committing 16.2 turnovers per game.

The Eagles shot 47.1 percent from the field and converted 26-of-36 free-throw attempts, as they defeated Iona over the weekend. The team also did a decent job from long range, hitting on 7-of-20 chances. Charron Fisher led the charge with 41 points and nine rebounds, marking his second straight 40-point effort. Putting up a big numbers is nothing new for Fisher, who leads the nation in scoring with an average of 28.2 ppg for the season. Fisher is also the Eagles' top rebounder at 9.1 rpg. Tyrone Lewis ranks second to him with 16.5 ppg, while Stanley Hodge contributes 12.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg. As a team, Niagara is turning in 76.9 ppg behind 40.3 percent shooting from the field for the season.

Niagara is clearly the pick here and with another big showing from Fisher, it should have no trouble capturing the win tonight.