COLLEGE PARK, MD. – Niagara (0-1) dropped its season-opening contest at Maryland (1-0) 71-49 Monday night in non-conference men's basketball action from the Xfinity Center in College Park. 
 
First Half
• A dunk by Aaron Gray and a layup from Sam Iorio gave Niagara a 4-3 lead just over two minutes into the contest, but the Terps would roll off eight-straight points to take an 11-4 advantage over the Purple Eagles. 
• Over the next 3:45 of action, Maryland would outscore Niagara 13-6 to get its largest lead of the half, 24-10, with 12:02 to play. 
• The Purple Eagles would use the next 6:55 to trim the Terps' advantage to nine, 30-21. Iorio tallied four, and three other Purple Eagles scored two points to get Maryland's lead back to single digits. 
• Niagara would close the half with a buzzer-beating jumper from Braxton Bayless and go into the break down seven, 34-27. 
 
Second Half
• The Purple and White would continue to chip away at the Terp lead to start the second half as Bryce Moore and Bayless scored NU's first four points of the half to draw within four, 39-35. 
• A 9-0 Maryland run would put the home team back up by double-digits, 48-35.
• An Iorio layup ended the 4:22 scoreless drought for Niagara and made the score 48-37 with 9:20 to go. 
• Iorio would connect on another layup 1:56 later to draw NU back within nine, 50-41, the closest the Purple Eagles would get for the remainder of the game. 
• Maryland would outscore the Purple and White, 21-8, over the final seven minutes of play en route to a 71-49 victory. 
 
Niagara Notes
• Monday marked the third all-time meeting between Niagara and Maryland, with the Terps taking a 3-0 series lead over NU with the win. 
• Bayless led Niagara with 14 points, six assists, and six rebounds. 
• Iorio recorded his 13th double-digit point effort as a Purple Eagle with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. 
• Gray added nine points and a team-high two steals. 
• As a team, Niagara shot 40.0 percent (22-for-55) from the field, with 34 of its 49 points coming in the paint. 
• Niagara made five of its eight shots at the line. 
• The Purple Eagles had 13 assists in the contest with three players recording multiple helpers. 
 
Up Next
• Niagara will head to Lewisburg, Pa., for a meeting with the Bucknell Bison on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. at the Sojka Pavilion.

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