PURPLE EAGLES MEN'S BASKETBALL
GAME 17	Niagara Purple Eagles (8-8, 1-2 MAAC) vs. Rider Broncs (8-7, 3-0 MAAC)
DATE | TIME	Sunday, January 13 | 2 PM
LOCATION	Frank and Barbara Layden Court at the Gallagher Center
GAME NOTES	Niagara | Rider
SERIES	Rider Leads 24-22
BROADCAST	Niagara Sports Network - Todd Callen
RADIO	107.3 FM/AM 1400 WWWS – Todd Callen
TICKETS	TicketMaster | Tickets@Niagara.edu | 716-286-8499
LIVE STATS	PurpleEagles.com
TWITTER	@NiagaraMBB
INSTAGRAM	@NiagaraMBB

The Niagara Purple Eagles conclude their MAAC home opening weekend against the Rider Broncs on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
Scene Setter
•  The Purple Eagles earned their first conference win of the season with a 95-90 victory over the three-time defending MAAC champions Iona Gaels on Friday to snap a three-game losing streak. Niagara set season-highs in points (95), rebounds (51), field goals made (36) and in 3-pointers made (13).
•  NU started MAAC play 0-2 last season before winning its next five league games on its way to a 12-6 MAAC record.
•  Niagara had a 6-3 record in MAAC home games last season, which was Niagara's best record since the 2012-13 season (6-3).
•  The Purple Eagles and Broncs met only once last season with Rider leaving the Gallagher Center with a 99-76 victory to win 14 of the last 17 meetings.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
•  Hoops HD named Marvin Prochet the MAAC POYSF (Player of the Year So Far) for the non-conference season. Prochet averaged 18.2 points and 9.5 rebounds, and had six double-doubles in 10 non-conference games.   
•  Marvin Prochet leads Niagara and is third in the MAAC in scoring, averaging a career-high 17.4 points per contest. Prochet, who led the MAAC in rebounds last season, is second in the league with 8.6 rebounds per game. He is shooting a career-high 43.8 percent from the 3-point line which is second in the league.
•  Dominic Robb leads the MAAC in total blocks (48) and blocks per game (3.0) while ranking fourth and seventh, respectively, in those categories nationally.
•  James Towns sits atop of the MAAC in free throws percentage (.828) and is second in free throws made (72). Towns is also averaging career-high numbers in assists per game (4.4) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.4) which are both third best in the MAAC.
•  James Towns picked up his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 assists against Norfolk State. He was three rebounds shy of a triple-double.
•  Dominic Robb is 16 blocks away from tying Joe Arlauckas ('87) who finished his career with 220 blocks, for first place.
•  Marvin Prochet collected his MAAC-leading seventh double-double with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds against Iona on January 11. Prochet has seven double-doubles in 13 games. 
•  Dominik Fragala, who scored a total of seven points in 12 games, shared game-high honors in scoring with a career-high 20 points at Fairfield on January 7 to be the only Purple Eagle in double figures. Fragala shot 77.8 percent from the field, which is the highest field goal percentage by a Purple Eagle this season with a minimum of seven made field goals.
•  Niagara leads the MAAC in free throw percentage (.752) and in rebounds per game (38.5).
 
On The Court
Rider Gaels (8-7, 3-0 MAAC)
•  Rider enters Sunday's contest on a three-game win streak with victories against Fairfield, Quinnipiac and Canisius.
•  Four Broncs are averaging double figures scoring - Jordan Allen (12.3), Frederick Scott (12.3), Dimencio Vaughn (11.9), and Stevie Jordan (11.4).
•  The Broncs lead the MAAC in assists per game (14.3), steals per game (9.4), turnover margin (3.5) and scoring margin (0.5).    
 
Against the Broncs (Rider Leads 24-22)
•  NU snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with an 80-67 win on Jan. 28, 2017.
•  Niagara is 12-11 all-time at home against Rider.            
•  After winning 7 out of 9 meetings from January 2006 to March 2009, NU has won only three times in the last 17 encounters.
 
Last Meeting - December 31, 2017
Rider 99, Niagara 76
 
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Marvin Prochet led all scorers with a season-high 21 points as the Niagara Purple Eagles fell to the Rider Broncs, 99-76, to close out the 2017 calendar.
 

The Series	Rider Leads 24-22
Last Game	December 31, 2017
	Rider 99, Niagara 76
Last Niagara Win	January 28, 2017
	Niagara 80, Rider 67
Last Rider Win	December 31, 2017
	Rider 99, Niagara 76
Last Niagara Win at Home	January 28, 2017
	Niagara 80, Rider 67
Last Rider Win at Niagara	December 31, 2017
	Rider 99, Niagara 76
Current Streak	Rider, W1

 
Mr. Double-Double
•  Marvin Prochet has established himself as a double-double force as he ranks amongst the nation's leader in double-doubles.
•  He leads the MAAC and ranks in the top-25 in the nation in double-doubles.
•  Prochet started the season with four straight double-doubles which was the longest streak by a Purple Eagle since Benson Egemonye had four straight during the 2008-09 season.
•  He has seven double-doubles in 13 games.
•  Prochet is on pace to average a double-double for the entire season to be the first Purple Eagle since Juan Mendez (23.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg) in the 2004-05 season.
 
Secretary Of Defense
•  Dominic Robb, who started his final campaign wearing the Purple & White fifth on the career blocks list, is currently second after passing Mark Henry ('84) on December 3.  
•  Robb set the program's single-season record in blocks with a MAAC-leading 74 blocks during the 2016-17 season.
•  He was second in the MAAC with a team-leading 48 blocks last season.
•  This season, Robb is seventh in the NCAA in blocks per game.
•  Robb's career-high eight blocks in the season-opening win versus Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure are tied for second most in program history and tied for seventh most in the nation this season.