The Niagara Purple Eagles begin their 30th season as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference on Saturday at the Manhattan Jaspers.
 
Scene Setter
•  Niagara enters league play as the only MAAC team with a winning record and finished its non-conference regular season schedule with a 7-6 record for the second straight season.
•  The Purple Eagles concluded their non-conference schedule going 5-2 in December. The Purple Eagles had a three-game win streak from December 3-16 with wins at Pitt, and at home versus New Hampshire and Cornell. NU also defeated Army and Norfolk State.
•  Niagara boasts victories against opponents from the ACC (Pitt), Atlantic-10 (St. Bonaventure) and Mountain West Conference (Wyoming).
•  The Purple Eagles are 14-15 in MAAC openers, including a 6-5 record in MAAC openers on the road. Niagara has dropped its last two MAAC openers and won its last MAAC opener on the road on November 20, 2014 against Saint Peter's.
•  Last season, Niagara led the MAAC in road wins with 10, including six in league play.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
•  Marvin Prochet leads Niagara and is second in the MAAC in scoring, averaging a career-high 18.2 points per contest. Prochet, who led the MAAC in rebounds last season, is once again at the top of the list with a career-high 9.5 per game. He is shooting a career-high 43.7 percent from the 3-point line which is second in the league.
•  Dominic Robb leads the MAAC in total blocks (43) and blocks per game (3.3) while ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, in those categories nationally.
•  James Towns sits atop of the MAAC in free throws percentage (.833) and in free throws made (49). Towns is also averaging career-high numbers in assists per game (4.7) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.7) 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.
•  Niagara is the only team in the MAAC to have four players record a double-double this season.
•  Dominic Robb moved into second place on the career blocks list after a four-block performance at Pitt. Robb is now 21 blocks away from tying Joe Arlauckas ('87) who finished his career with 220 blocks, for first place.
•  Marvin Prochet collected his MAAC-leading sixth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Cleveland State on December 19. Prochet, who is 19th in the nation in double-doubles, has six double-doubles in 10 games. 
•  Raheem Solomon has averaged 13 points in the last two games, including a career-high 15 points versus Albany. Solomon also dished out a career-high four assists against Norfolk State.
•  After scoring a total of nine points through nine games, freshman Marcus Hammond has scored 38 points in the last four games, including leading NU in scoring with a career-best 16 points against Albany. Hammond shot 59 percent from the field in the last four games.
 
On The Court
Manhattan Jaspers (2-11, 0-1 MAAC)
•  Manhattan has dropped its last eight games, including its MAAC opener to Quinnipiac on January 3.
•  Pauly Paulicap leads Manhattan in scoring at 8.6 points per game and Ebube Ebube leads the team in rebounds per game (5.5).
•  The Jaspers lead the MAAC in scoring defense, but are last in the conference in scoring offense.
 
Against the Jaspers (Manhattan leads 52-33)
•  The Purple Eagles and Jaspers split last season's series with both teams protecting home court.
•  Niagara is 16-11 in the last 27 meetings and 6-7 in its last 13 visits to Manhattan.
•  The home team has won eight of the last nine meetings.
•  The Purple Eagles are in search of their first win at Manhattan in six seasons.
 
Last Meeting - February 18, 2018
Manhattan 82, Niagara 72
 
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles had their four-game winning streak snapped in an 82-72 defeat to the Manhattan Jaspers in their final regular season road game on Sunday.
 

The Series	Manhattan leads 52-33
Last Game	February 18, 2018
	Manhattan 82, Niagara 72
Last Niagara win	January 24, 2018
	Niagara 72, Manhattan 63
Last Manhattan win	February 18, 2018
	Manhattan 82, Niagara 72
Last Niagara win at Manhattan	February 17, 2013
	Niagara 60, Manhattan 56
Last Manhattan win at Home	February 18, 2018
	Manhattan 82, Niagara 72
Current Streak	Manhattan, W1