NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Despite a late comeback effort from Niagara (7-9, 3-3 MAAC), the Purple and White fell to Siena (3-13, 2-3 MAAC) 93-88 Monday afternoon in MAAC basketball action inside the Gallagher Center.
 
Siena's Sean Durugordon finished with a game-high 36 points and 12 rebounds to pace the Saints who finished the game 30-for-48 from the field and 31-for-37 at the line. Siena outrebounded Niagara, 37-28.
 
Freshman Ahmad Henderson II finished with 27 points, going 9-for-17 from the field, including 3-for-8 from three. Luke Bumbalough added 15 points and a team-high seven assists, while Kwane Marble contributed 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting off the bench. Harlan Obioha led the team with seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. As a team, Niagara shot 44.4 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from three and 76.2 percent at the line.
 
How it Happened
After both teams struggled to find the bottom of the basket early on, Randy Tucker would break the scoreless tie with a 3-pointer at the 18:02 mark of the opening stanza.
 
From there, Niagara would take a 10-2 lead with baskets from Yaw Obeng-Mensah and Henderson, however, over the next 3:33, Siena would outscore Niagara 10-3 to pull within one, 13-12, with 11:44 to go in the half, before eventually taking a 17-15 lead two minutes later.
 
With the score tied at 21-21 with 6:39 on the clock, Niagara would spark a 10-2 run, getting five points from Dre Bullock, who finished with eight points, three from Bumbalough and another two from Obeng-Mensah, to take a 31-23 lead over Siena with four and a half to play.
 
Niagara would take a 39-33 lead into the break after Henderson beat the halftime buzzer with a layup.
 
 Niagara would remain in front for the first seven minutes of action before Durugordon connected on a jumper to give Siena the lead, 46-45.
 
From the 13:09 mark to the 6:24 mark of the half the Saints would outscore NU 22-11 to take a double-digit lead over the Purple Eagles, 66-56.
 
Niagara would pull within five on three different occasions over the next five-plus minutes, before a 6-0 run aided by two Siena turnovers in the final minute put the Purple Eagles down by one, 86-85, with 12 seconds to go.
 
The Saints would ice the game at the line en route to the 93-88 win over Niagara.  
 
Niagara Notes
• Niagara falls to 52-59 all-time against Siena.
• Henderson recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season, falling one point shy of his career-high 28.
• Marble's 14 points are a season-high for the transfer, surpassing his previous season-high of 12 points last recorded on Friday, Jan. 12 vs. Fairfield. Monday also marked the fourth-straigh double-digit performance by the Colorado native.
• Bumbalough matched his season-high with seven assists.
• Obioha led Niagara in rebounding for the ninth time this season and 12th time in his career.
• Henderson's 27-points extends Niagara's run of 20-point scorers to nine games. It was the freshman's third 20-point game during the stretch and fourth overall on the season.
• Niagara recorded season-highs in field goal (72) and 3-point field goal (26) attempts.
 
Up Next
Niagara travels to Lawrenceville, N.J., for a 7 p.m. tilt with the Rider Broncs on Friday, Jan. 19.
 
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