PURPLE EAGLES MEN'S BASKETBALL
GAME 1	Niagara Purple Eagles (0-0, 0-0 MAAC) vs. Drexel Dragons (0-1, 0-0 CAA)
DATE | TIME	Friday, November 8 | 7 PM
LOCATION	Daskalakis Center | Philadelphia, PA
GAME NOTES	Niagara | Drexel
SERIES	Niagara Leads 7-6
TOURNAMENT	Garden State Hardwood Classic
BROADCAST	FloSports
RADIO	WGR 550 AM – Todd Callen
LIVE STATS	StatBroadcast
TWITTER	@NiagaraMBB
INSTAGRAM	@NiagaraMBB

   The Niagara Purple Eagles visit the Drexel Dragons on Friday to begin their 114th season of men's basketball.
 
Scene Setter
•  The Purple Eagles will usher in a new era with first-year head coach Greg Paulus taking over the program. The former Duke standout joined the staff in May 2019 as an assistant coach after coaching stops at George Washington, Louisville, Ohio State, and Navy.
•  Niagara has won its last two season openers – both against Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure – for the first time since the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. The Purple Eagles are in search of winning their third straight season opener for the first time since winning five straight from 1996-2000. 
•  The Purple Eagles will open the season with four straight games as part of the Garden State Hardwood Classic (MTE – Multi-Team Event). Niagara will play at Drexel, Rutgers, and Stephen F. Austin before hosting Bryant on November 18.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
•  Niagara has a trio of guards who serves as the core to the team in senior James Towns, and sophomores Raheem Solomon and Marcus Hammond as they all played in every game last season.
•  Towns is the team's returning leading scorer (10.5 points per game), rebounder (3.5 rebounds per game), and he led the team in assists per game (3.4) which were seventh in the MAAC. A two-time MAAC Player of the Week recipient, he also shot a team-best 81.4 percent from the free-throw line which ranked third in the conference last season. 
•  The sophomore duo of Raheem Solomon and Marcus Hammond steadily improved throughout the course of their freshman campaign which inserted them into the starting lineup towards the end of the season. Solomon finished the season fourth on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game and averaged 2.3 rebounds per game, while Hammond shot over 48 percent from the field, 52 percent from 3-pointers and 84 percent at the free-throw line.
•  NU has a few other veterans on the roster. Junior forward Greg Kuakumensah is entering his third year on the program, guard Steve Levnaic is back after redshirting as a freshman, and guard Justin Roberts will be eligible to play this season after sitting out last year as a transfer. Nine newcomers – Shandon Brown, Italo Cicotti, Will Engelhardt, Nicholas Kratholm, Nick MacDonald, Kobi Nwandu, Trey Syroka, Damani Thomas, and Noah Waterman – fill out the rest of the roster.
• NU faces a challenging non-conference schedule with matchups at Syracuse, Rutgers, Buffalo and St. Bonaventure. Niagara begins the season with three straight road games before hosting Bryant on November 18. Following road matchups with Purdue Fort Wayne and Norfolk State, Niagara will battle Colgate at home on Dec. 8 before closing out its non-conference schedule with four straight road contests – Albany, St. Bonaventure, Buffalo and Syracuse. The Purple Eagles start their 20-game MAAC schedule in January and the pursuit for a MAAC Tournament title begins on March 10 at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
 
On The Court
Drexel Dragons (0-1, 0-0 CAA)
•  Drexel head coach Zack Spiker enters his fourth season leading the Dragons.
•  The Dragons return 12 letterwinners, including two starters, from last season's 13-19 team.
•  One of the returnees is Cam Wynter who was named CAA Rookie of the Year after averaging 11.3 points per game and setting the program's assist record.
•  Drexel dropped its season opener at Temple, 70-62, on November 5. T.J. Bickerstaff scored 16 points to share game-high honors. Wynter (15) and Matey Juicy (11) were also in double figures scoring.
 
Against The Dragons (Niagara leads 7-6)
•  Niagara has won four of the last six in the series.
•  Five of Niagara's seven wins in the series have been at home (Gallagher Center or Convention Center).
•  The Purple Eagles handled the Dragons in the most recent meeting which was four seasons ago. James Towns, then a freshman, scored 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field to be one of four Purple Eagles to score in double figures.
 
Last Meeting - November 23, 2016
Niagara 93, Drexel 74
 
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y.—The Niagara Purple Eagles put on a shooting clinic on the court as they pulled away in the second half for a 93-74 win over the Drexel Dragons for their first victory of the season.
 

The Series	Niagara Leads 7-6
Last Game	November 23, 2016
	Niagara 93, Drexel 74
Last Niagara win	November 23, 2016
	Niagara 93, Drexel 74
Last Drexel win	December 13, 2011
	Drexel 71, Niagara 58
Last Niagara win at Drexel	December 18, 2008
	Niagara 67, Drexel 62
Last Drexel win at Home	December 28, 2010
	Drexel 84, Niagara 39
Current streak	Niagara, W1

 
Against the CAA
• Niagara is 19-29 against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
• The Purple Eagles have played Northeastern the most times (24) and have the most wins
against the Huskies (seven).