Freshman Clay Simmons gave the Beavers a 3-1 cushion at 17:40 of the second period after taking a feed from Ted Belisle on a two-on-one break, but Niagara rallied with a pair of goals from Mike Isherwood to force an inconclusive sudden-death period. Thomas Clayton and Mikko Sivonen earned assists on both Isherwood goals.

The Beavers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as Stefan Bjork scored his first career goal at 14:55 on a power play. Mark Phenow and Calvin Chartrand picked up assists on the play. Scot Dickson added another power-play goal at 15:43 with assists from Jeff McGill and Simmons.

John Heffernan got the Purple Eagles on the board at 3:30 of the second period on a power-play goal on a play set up by Sivonen and Chris MacKenzie.

Bemidji State (2-3-1, 2-1-1 CHA) hosts Ferris State in nonconference play Nov. 12-13 at the John Glas Fieldhouse, while Niagara (5-2-1, 1-0-1 CHA) travels to Alabama-Huntsville for a CHA series.