NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men's basketball team (11-11, 6-7 MAAC) handed Rick Pitino and the Iona Gaels (19-4, 11-1 MAAC) their first MAAC loss of the season. The Purple Eagles defeated Iona, 80-71, in the Gallagher Center on Sunday afternoon.
Game Recap
First Half
- Niagara and Iona traded buckets to open the half and a dunk from Sam Iorio tied the score early, 6-6.
- The Gaels went on a 6-0 run to take a 12-6 lead, but a 3-pointer from Noah Thomasson cut the Gaels' lead to three points, 12-9, with a little over 14 minutes to go.
- Iona led the Purple Eagles, 23-15, about midway through the first half. Niagara, however, scored eight straight points, including four from Iorio, to tie things up, 23-23.
- A jump shot and a layup from Marcus Hammond put the Purple Eagles in the lead, 27-26, with 7:46 left in the first half.
- With the score tied, 31-31, a 3-point play from Iorio put Niagara back on top, 34-31.
- A triple from Hammond put the Purple Eagles ahead by five points, 37-32, with 1:41 on the clock.
- Jordan Cintron made two free throws to close out the half and the Purple Eagles had a two-point advantage, 39-37, going into the locker room at halftime.
Second Half
- The Gaels took the lead, 40-39, early in the second half, but a layup from Iorio put NU back up by one, 41-40.
- Iona went on a 7-0 run to get ahead of the Purple Eagles, 47-41. Niagara answered with a 7-0 run of its own, including a trey from Iorio and buckets from Thomasson and Greg Kuakumensah, to put the Purple Eagles ahead by one point once again, 48-47.
- Trailing by two, 52-50, the Purple Eagles went on a 10-0 run, which included seven straight points from Hammond and a triple from Justin Roberts, to take an eight-point lead over Iona, 60-52, with about nine minutes left to play.
- Two points each from Thomasson, Cintron and Hammond helped NU to its largest lead of the game, 66-55, with about five and a half minutes remaining.
- With three minutes left, the Gaels came within five points of the Purple Eagles, 69-64, but two free throws from Roberts put NU up by seven, 71-64.
- With a little under a minute left, the Gaels came back within three points of the Purple Eagles, 73-70, but three points from Thomasson, one from Iorio and two from Hammond gave Niagara a nine-point lead, 79-70.
- Niagara allowed the Gaels just one more point. Cintron scored the final bucket of the game for NU as the Purple Eagles snapped Iona's eight-game winning streak, defeating the Gaels, 80-71.
Eagle's Eye On
- Hammond led all scorers with 26 points. Hammond went 10-for-16 from the field; his 10 made buckets are a season-high. He also dished out a team-high six assists and added one block and one steal.
- Cintron brought down a team-best and season-high 12 rebounds.
- Thomasson added 20 points, shooting 50 percent (7-for-14) from the field. He also had four assists.
- Iorio was just short of a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. He led the team in steals with two.
- Niagara shot 50.9 percent from the field (29-for-57).
- The Purple Eagles scored 44 points in the paint.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles begin a five-game road swing next weekend, facing Fairfield on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1:00 p.m.
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