NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY – Niagara would force overtime with Quinnipiac Sunday afternoon but inevitably fall to the Bobcats 75-68 in MAAC men's basketball action from the Gallagher Center. 
 
The Purple and White finished the game shooting 38.8 percent from the floor, including a 24.8 percent clip from 3-point land. Niagara went 8-for-11 from the line for a 72.7 percent mark. Sophomore Harlan Obioha led Niagara with 16 points, going 6-for-8 from the field while collecting a team-best nine rebounds. Ahmad Henderson recorded 13 points and a team-best two steals, while Yaw Obeng-Mensah added 10 points and five rebounds. Luke Bumbalough added nine points to go with his team-high seven assists. 
 
Quinnipiac's Matt Balanc led all scorers with 19 points, while Savion Lewis, Paul Otieno, and Amarri Tice added 18, 15, and 10 points, respectively. The Bobcats finished the game, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from the perimeter. The visiting Bobcats out-rebounded Niagara 39-33. 
 
How it Happened
The Purple Eagles trailed for the first 32-plus minutes of the contest until a 9-0 run from the 8:48 to the 7:20 mark of the second half gave Niagara its first lead of the game, 52-50, as Obioha completed his second-straight and-1 opportunity at the line. 
 
The Bobcats would respond with three consecutive makes to regain a six-point lead, 56-52, but Niagara would once again narrow the deficit and retake the lead as Bumbalough connected on a 3-pointer, and Obioha worked his way through traffic to lay it in before going to the line to complete the old-fashioned 3-point play and put NU down by one, 59-58. 
 
Bumbalough would give Niagara the lead, 61-59, with 3:23 on the clock as he made his second-straight 3-pointer. 
 
Following the final media timeout, the Bobcats scored with 1:19 remaining to tie the game at 61-61 before taking the lead 63-61 with nine seconds remaining. Following a miss at the line for Quinnipiac, the Purple Eagles would race down the floor as the final nine seconds came off the clock. Henderson put up a baseline jumper that was tipped home by Yaw Obeng-Mensah to tie the game at 63-63 with 1.4 remaining in regulation. 
 
Quinnipiac would start the overtime period on a 6-0 run as Balanc made back-to-back corner threes to put the Bobcats in front, 69-63. Randy Tucker would respond with a corner three of his own, but the Bobcats would finish the game on a 6-2 run to defeat the Purple Eagles. 
 
Niagara Notes
• Niagara moves to 11-14 all-time against Quinnipiac. 
• Obioha finished with a career-high 16 points, surpassing his previous career-high of 11 points set at home last season against the Bobcats. 
• Bumbalough's season-high seven assists is the most by a Purple Eagle this season. 
• Niagara matched its season-high with 33 rebounds. 
• The Purple Eagles finished with a season-high 16 assists and three blocks. 
• Henderson and Obeng-Mensah have scored double-digit points in five of six games this season. 
 
Up Next
Niagara will host Big Four rival St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
 
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