NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Niagara (12-11, 8-5 MAAC) nearly erased a 22-point Iona (12-10, 7-4 MAAC) lead but had its game-tying basket blocked in the final seconds, falling to the Gaels, 74-71 in Thursday night MAAC men's basketball action from the Gallagher Center.
 
Niagara was led by a career-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from Dre Bullock, while Braxton Bayless added 13 points and a team-high five assists. Harlan Obioha finished with 11 points and Kwane Marble Jr. grabbed a season-best 10 rebounds to go with his six points. As a team, Niagara shot 50.0 percent from the field and 61.1 percent from the line. The Purple Eagles won the battle on the glass, 37-30.
 
Iona finished the game shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 51.9 percent from the line. Greg Gordon scored a game-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds. Jean Aranguren finished with 14 points, followed by Joel Brown with 12.
 
How it Happened
The Purple Eagles struggled out of the gate going 2-for-10 from the field in the first seven minutes, resulting in a 13-4 Iona lead at the under-12 media timeout.
 
The Gaels would outscore Niagara 17-11 over the next seven minutes, doubling up the Purple Eagles, 30-15, with just under five minutes to go in the half which saw Niagara go 3-for-7 from the field and go into the break down 39-21.
 
The first 11 and a half minutes of the second half saw Iona's lead grow to a game-high 22 points, 58-36, with a Gordon layup and 8:12 on the clock.
 
From there, Niagara would start to chip away, using a 16-6 run from the 8:02 mark to the 2:40 mark to pull within 12-points, 64-52. Bullock led the way for Niagara scoring eight of the Purple Eagles 16 points, including the three to cap off the run.
 
It would take a pair of free throws from Marble and an old-fashioned 3-point play from Bayless to finally make it a 10-point game, 67-57, with 1:55 to go.
 
Bullock would connect on another 3-pointer which sparked a 9-3 Niagara run to make it a 70-66 ballgame with 48 seconds remaining.
 
The Purple Eagles would make it a one-point game with 23-seconds remaining when Yaw Obeng-Mensah stripped the ball from Aranguren following the Gael inbound and scored an easy layup.
 
After two free-throws from the Gaels, Lance Erving would once again make it a one-point game for NU, 72-71 with a layup. That led to another pair of Iona makes at the line as Niagara was forced to foul.
 
With the score 74-71 and 4-seconds on the clock, Niagara would get a chance to draw up the final play. Marble inbounded the ball to Obioha down low who kicked it out to Ahmad Henderson II for the game-tying three, but Panzo Wheza blocked Henderson's shot and Niagara's comeback attempt.
 
Niagara Notes
• Niagara drops to 41-54 all-time against Iona.
• Bullock's 22 points surpasses his career-high of 20 points set against Buffalo State on Dec. 10, 2023. The Franklinton, N.C., native also made a career-high eight field goals.
• Marble's 10 rebounds were the most this season and two shy of his career-high of 12 set against New Mexico on Feb. 17, 2021.
• Bayless has now recorded five or more assists in back-to-back games.
• Thursday marked the eight time this season Niagara shot 50.0 percent or better from the field. The Purple Eagles are now 7-1 in those games.
• Niagara is now 8-2 when outrebounding its opponent.
 
Up Next
Niagara will travel to Connecticut for a Friday night meeting with the Fairfield Stags. The Purple Eagles and Stags will tip-off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Todd Callen will describe the action on WGR 550.  
 
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