| GAME 16 |
| SCORE |
Niagara Purple Eagles 70, Rider Broncs 68 |
| RECORDS |
Niagara (5-11, 3-2 MAAC), Rider (9-7, 3-3 MAAC) |
| LEADING SCORERS |
Niagara – Justin Roberts (16) | Rider – Dimencio Vaughn (18) |
| LOCATION |
Gallagher Center |
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Sophomore
Marcus Hammond drained a jumper at the buzzer to lift the Purple Eagles to a 70-68 victory over the Rider Broncs on Friday night.
Game Summary
Marcus Hammond's buzzer-beating 3-pointer capped a 5-0 run in the final 27 seconds of tonight's contest. The Purple Eagles, who led for a good portion of the second half, trailed 68-65 with 1:58 left after the Broncs went on an 8-2 run.
Justin Roberts connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 68-68 with 27 seconds remaining. The redshirt junior then played tough defense on Rider's Stevie Jordan who missed a layup on the en suing possession with seven seconds left.
Raheem Solomon grabbed the rebound and sprinted up the court, only to be fouled by Jordan with one second left; although, the Purple Eagles were not in the bonus to shoot free throws.
On the inbound play, Roberts found Hammond near Niagara's bench and the sophomore hit nothing but net for his first career buzzer-beating game-winner.
The Purple Eagles went into halftime trailing 32-28, but closed the half on a buzzer beater.
Greg Kuakumensah stole the ball from Tyere Marshall and found
Nick MacDonald in the corner who made his first 3-pointer of the game as the buzzer sounded.
Niagara carried that momentum into the second half as the Purple Eagles opened the frame on a 15-4 run. NU reeled off 10 straight points as part of the run for a 43-36 lead with 15:44 left. A Roberts 3-pointer at the 15:16 mark gave Niagara a 46-38 lead for the largest lead of the contest.
The Broncs tied the game at 53-53 with 7:46 on the clock, but Niagara regained the lead with an 8-2 run over the next two minutes. Rider responded by outscoring NU, 13-4, in a four-minute span for a 68-65 lead with 1:58 remaining.
Eagle's Eye On…
- Justin Roberts led NU in scoring with 16 points – all in the second half – on 6 of 8 shooting from the field including a game-high four 3-pointers. He was also second on the team in assists with four.
- Marcus Hammond scored 15 points, including the game-winning basket, to be in double figures for the fifth straight game. Hammond dished out a game-high seven assists.
- Raheem Solomon scored 13 points while making 4 of 5 shots from the field.
- Greg Kuakumensah added 10 points
Inside The Numbers
- The Purple Eagles, who lead the MAAC in assist-to-turnover ratio, turnover margin and turnovers per game, put up their best numbers of the season to date. NU finished with a season-high 19 assists and a season-low six turnovers.
- Niagara shot 48.1 percent from 3s which is the second highest of the season while also shooting 57 percent from the field in the second half.
- Four Purple Eagles were in double figures scoring for the third time this season.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles host the Siena Saints on Sunday, January 19 at 1 p.m. in the annual NABC Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers game.
- Coverage of the game will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Niagara Sports Network via 107.3 FM/AM 1400 and www.PurpleEagles.com/Watch.
- For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286 TIXX, tickets@Niagara.edu or www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets.
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