The Niagara Purple Eagles will play at longtime local rival the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Wednesday, December 18 at 7 p.m.
Scene Setter
• After earning their first win of the season, and head coach
Greg Paulus' first career win, at Norfolk State on December 1, the Purple Eagles rallied to beat the defending Patriot League champion Colgate Raiders on December 8.
• NU had its two-game win streak stopped in a narrow defeat to the Albany Great Danes, 84-80, on December 14.
• Niagara is in a stretch of games where the Purple Eagles will play six out of seven games away from the Gallagher Center. Niagara's lone home game was against Colgate.
• The recent series history between the Purple Eagles and Bonnies have been one of streaks. The Purple Eagles won eight straight from 2003-2010, before the Bonnies won six straight from 2011-2016. Now the current win streak sits with Niagara as the Purple Eagles have won the last two meetings which were both season openers.
Tipoff Tidbits
• Three Purple Eagles are averaging double figures scoring -
James Towns (16.6 ppg),
Raheem Solomon (12.6 ppg), and
Marcus Hammond (10.5 ppg).
•
James Towns notched his third 20-point game of the season with a team-high 25 points at Albany, one game after scoring a game-high 26 points in the win over Colgate.
•
Greg Kuakumensah became the first Purple Eagle this season to record a double-double. He collected his second career double-double with 10 points and team-high 10 rebounds against Bryant to become the first Purple Eagle this season with double digit boards.
•
James Towns is 99 points away from reaching the 1,000-point threshold.
•
Marcus Hammond, who leads the team in assists at 3.4 per game, is averaging 6.3 assists in the last three games including a season-high seven assists against Norfolk State.
•
Marcus Hammond is second in the MAAC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71).
• In Niagara's two wins, the Purple Eagles shot over 54 percent from the field. NU shot 54 percent against Colgate and 55.6 percent versus Stephen F. Austin which is the highest since February 23, 2018.
•
Greg Kuakumensah scored a career-high 18 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including going 2-for-2 from 3-pointers, versus Colgate.
• Niagara shot a season-high 92.9 percent (13-for-14) from the free-throw line and made a season-high eleven 3-pointers at Albany on December 14. The Purple Eagles are shooting 83.7 percent (31-for-37) at the free-throw line and 42.5 percent (20-for-47) from the 3-point line in the last two games.
• The Purple Eagles lead all MAAC teams in turnover margin (1.5) and second among conference members in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.95).
On The Court
St. Bonaventure Bonnies (6-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
• After starting the season 1-4, including defeats to Siena and Canisius, the Bonnies have won their last five games.
• Three Bonnies are averaging double figures scoring - Kyle Lofton (12.7 ppg), Dominick Welch (12.4 ppg), and Jaren English (11.0 ppg).
• Kyle Lofton ranks in the top-20 in the nation in free throw percentage (.917 - 19th) and assists per game (6.4 apg - 17th), and in the top-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3 - 9th) and in minutes per game (38.3 - 2nd).
Against The Bonnies (St. Bonaventure Leads 88-71)
• The Niagara/St. Bonaventure series dates back to the 1920-21 season. NU trails in the all-time series, 88-71, but is 10-6 in the last 16 meetings.
• The Purple Eagles have won five of the last six trips to the Reilly Center
• Eight of the last ten meetings have been decided by less than 10 points
Last Meeting - November 12, 2018
Niagara 80, St. Bonaventure 72
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. –
Marvin Prochet,
James Towns and
Keleaf Tate all scored in double figures as Niagara took down Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure, 80-72, to tip-off the 2018-19 season.
| The Series |
St. Bonaventure Leads, 88-71 |
| Last Game |
November 12, 2018 |
|
Niagara 80, St. Bonaventure 72 |
| Last Niagara win |
November 13, 2018 |
|
Niagara 80, St. Bonaventure 72 |
| Last St. Bonaventure win |
December 17, 2016 |
|
St. Bonaventure 79, Niagara 69 |
| Last Niagara win at St. Bonaventure |
November 10, 2017 |
|
Niagara 77, St. Bonaventure 75 |
| Last St. Bonaventure win at Home |
December 30, 2015 |
|
St. Bonaventure 82, Niagara 68 |
| Current streak |
Niagara, W2 |
Against The Atlantic 10
• Niagara is 115-161 all-time against the Atlantic-10.
• The Purple Eagles have played the Bonnies the most (159), with La Salle coming in second at 47 meetings.
