The Niagara Purple Eagles start their final road swing of the regular season with a pair of games in New Jersey, beginning on Friday against the Rider Broncs at 7 p.m.
 
Scene Setter
•  The Purple Eagles halted a four-game skid with a 78-73 win over the Fairfield Stags on February 17.
•  The Purple Eagles will be making their first trip to the Broncs Zoo since January 2017 as the teams only met once last season in a matchup played at the Gallagher Center.
•  The Broncs won the first meeting between the two teams on January 13. Niagara trailed by two points at halftime but was outscored by 18 points in the second half.
•  James Towns averaged 14.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in the last two meetings with Rider.
 
Tipoff Tidbits
•  Dominic Robb is three blocks away from tying Joe Arlauckas ('87), who finished his career with 220 blocks, for most blocks in program history.
•  Dominic Robb LEADS the MAAC in total blocks (61) and blocks per game (2.2) while ranking 16th and 21st, respectively, in those categories nationally. Robb's 61 blocks are sixth most in a season in program history.
•  Marvin Prochet is fifth in the MAAC in scoring with a career-high 16.5 points per game and third in rebounding with 7.3 boards per game.  He is on pace to setting the program single-season 3-point field goal percent record as his career-high 45.1 three-point FG percent LEADS the league and is 15th in the nation. 
•  Dominic Robb is 20 points away from joining teammate Marvin Prochet in the 1,000-Point Club. Robb would join Joe Arlauckas as the only Purple Eagles in program history with 1,000 career points and 200 career blocks.
•  Niagara drained a season-high 15 three-pointers at Iona on February 10, which are two shy of tying the program record for 3-pointers in a game. The Purple Eagles have made 10 or more 3-pointers in nine games this season.
•  James Towns is third in the MAAC in free throw percentage with a career-high 81.7 percent. Towns is also averaging career-high numbers in assists per game (3.9) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.7).
•  The Purple Eagles LEAD the MAAC in free throw percentage (.739).
•  Niagara is second in the conference in blocks per game (3.8), total blocks (103), and in turnovers per game (11.8).
•  According to KenPom.com, the Purple Eagles rank sixth in the nation in opponent free throw rate (23.7) which captures a team's ability to get to the free-throw line.
 
On The Court
Rider Broncs (14-13, 9-6 MAAC)
•  The Broncs snapped a five-game skid last weekend, earning a win at home against Monmouth on February 15 and a road win against Saint Peter's on February 17.
•  Four Broncs are averaging double figures scoring - Frederick Scott (12.5 ppg), Jordan (12.1 ppg), Vaughn (11.0 ppg), and Tyere Marshall (10. 8 ppg). 
•  The Broncs currently sit atop the MAAC leaderboard in rebounds per game (36.6), steals per game (9.1) and turnover margin (3.67). Rider is also second in scoring offense (75.9 ppg) and assists per game (14.0).
 
Against the Broncs (Rider Leads 25-22)
•  Rider has won five of the last six and 10 of the last 12 contests between the two programs dating back to the 2012-13 season.
•  Since the start of the 2007-08 season, Niagara has only won once in its last 10 trips to Alumni Gym (February 21, 2015).
 
Last Meeting - January 13, 2019
Rider 104, Niagara 84
 
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. –  Keleaf Tate paced the Purple Eagles in scoring with 19 points as Niagara dropped the backend of its MAAC home opening weekend to the Rider Broncs, 104-84. 
 

The Series	Rider Leads 25-22
Last Game	January 13, 2019
	Rider 104, Niagara 84
Last Niagara Win	January 28, 2017
	Niagara 80, Rider 67
Last Rider Win	January 13, 2019
	Rider 104, Niagara 84
Last Niagara Win at Rider	February 21, 2015
	Niagara 65, Rider 61
Last Rider Win at Home	January 8, 2017
	Rider 89, Niagara 78
Current Streak	Rider, W2