| GAME 17 |
| SCORE |
Niagara Purple Eagles 72, Siena Saints 71 |
| RECORDS |
Niagara (6-11, 4-2 MAAC), Siena (7-9, 3-4 MAAC) |
| LEADING SCORERS |
Niagara – Greg Kuakumensah (17) | Siena – Manny Camper (21) |
| LOCATION |
Gallagher Center |
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half to eventually upend the Siena Saints in the final minute en route to a 72-71 victory on Sunday for their third straight win.
Game Summary
Raheem Solomon's layup with 44 seconds remaining gave the Purple Eagles their first lead of the game at 70-68. Solomon slipped past his defender on a backdoor cut and received a pass from
Marcus Hammond. A Siena defender made contact with the rim on Solomon's layup attempt which resulted in a goaltending.
Siena's Jalen Pickett missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining and Niagara grabbed the rebound.
Shandon Brown made a pair of free throws for a 72-68 lead with 13 seconds on the clock. Siena's Jordan King made a deep 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining, but NU successfully inbounded the ball to run out the clock.
The Purple Eagles found themselves in an early 9-0 hole after two minutes. The Saints had their largest lead of the game, 27-16, with 8:40 left in the first half. NU cut the lead to 29-26 after a Hammond layup with 4:27 remaining in the half. Siena built a 36-26 lead on a 7-0 run, but NU closed the half scoring the game's last four points to trail 36-30.
Niagara went on a 9-1 run to tie the game at 52-52 with 11:16 on the clock. However, the Saints answered with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes for a 61-54 lead. The Purple Eagled tied the score again at 66-66 on a
Greg Kuakumensah layup with 2:34 remaining. On the next possession, Siena went back ahead on a Pickett jumper, but Kuakumensah had another layup to tie the game at 68-68 with 1:39 left.
Eagle's Eye On…
- Greg Kuakumensah led NU in scoring for the third time this season. Kuakumensah scored all 17 points, on 8 of 11 shooting, in the second half.
- Raheem Solomon scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
- Marcus Hammond netted 12 points and went 6-for-8 at the free-throw line.
- James Towns led NU in assists with five.
Inside The Numbers
- Niagara led for 1.8 percent (44 seconds) in the game.
- NU had 13 assists and seven turnovers for its 12th straight game with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
- The Purple Eagles' seven turnovers are the second fewest this season and is the ninth time this season they had less than 10 turnovers in a game.
- NU shot 50 percent (6-for-12) from 3-point range which is the second highest percentage this season.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles are on the road this upcoming week beginning on Friday, January 24 at Monmouth at 7 p.m.
- Coverage of the game will be provided by ESPN+ and by the Niagara Sports Network via WGR 550 AM and www.PurpleEagles.com/Watch.
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