NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – A pair of Purple Eagles’ 20-point games and a season-high 53 second half points powered the Purple Eagles to their largest margin of victory in 10 seasons in a 75-48 win over the Monmouth Hawks on Saturday.
Game Summary
Niagara went on a decisive run in the second half en route to pulling away from the Hawks in a game that featured nine ties and 11 lead changes.
Both Niagara and Monmouth went on lengthy runs in the first half, with neither team leading by double digits in the first half.
Trailing 11-9 just six minutes into the start of play, Niagara went on a 10-0 run in five minutes. Four different Purple Eagles scored during that run, putting Niagara up, 19-11.
Monmouth responded with an 8-0 run, which came to a close when Chris Barton found Raheem Solomon for a three-pointer to reclaim the lead at 22-19 with just over five minutes to play in the opening half. The Hawks closed out the half on a 4-0 run to take the lead into halftime, 23-22.
The second half started just as close as the first half with the score tied at 41-41 with 11 minutes remaining. From there, Niagara took control of the game to the tune of a 17-3 run, with 15 points coming from Barton and Marvin Prochet.
In the midst of the run, and with just over nine minutes to play, Barton flew to the basket off a Solomon missed three-pointer and tipped the ball in while getting fouled. He followed up by making the free throw to complete the three-point play. Solomon made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give Niagara a 27-point margin of victory.
Eagle’s Eye On…
- Chris Barton established a new career-high with a game-high 22 points, including 20 in the second half. Barton was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line, grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists.
- Marvin Prochet nearly recorded a double-double for the Purple Eagles with 21 points, including tying a career-high with six 3-pointers for the second straight game, and nine rebounds.
- James Towns finished with a team-leading four assists and zero turnovers to go with his 15 points.
- Raheem Solomon finished with 10 points, his third consecutive game scoring in double figures.
- Greg King and Dominic Robb contributed in the rebounding game for the Purple Eagles, netting six and five rebounds, respectively.
Inside The Numbers
- The 27-point win is the Purple Eagles’ largest since beating Marist, 79-50, in the 2009 MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
- The 48 points allowed are the fewest since St. John’s scored 48 points against the Purple Eagles on December 9, 2015.
- Niagara went 20-for-23 at the free-throw line, including making 13 straight, which all came in the second half. The 87 free throw percent is the second highest this season.
- The combination of Barton (22 points) and Prochet (21) marked the first time second time this season that a pair of Purple Eagles have scored at least 20 points (Prochet and Keleaf Tate against Cornell on Dec. 18).
- Niagara’s season-high 53 points in the second half marked the fourth time this season with at least 50 points in the half.
- With his 18 points on Saturday, Prochet set a new personal high in points scored against Monmouth, surpassing his previous mark of 13 earlier. He has now scored in double figures in each of his last six contests dating back to Jan. 11. In addition, Prochet has now hit at least five three-pointers on five different occasions this season.
- The Purple Eagles edged the Hawks in points off turnovers (10-6), second chance points (11-9), fast break points (8-6) and bench points (15-12).
- After dropping nine of the first 10 matchups between the two programs, Niagara has now won the last three contests dating back to the start of the 2017-18 season.
- Niagara is now 5-0 this season when shooting better from the field than its opponent.
Up Next
- Niagara hosts crosstown rival Canisius on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. for the first installment in this season’s “Battle of the Bridge” rivalry.
- The game will air on the Niagara Sports Network via LCTV, 107.3 FM/AM 1400 WWWS and www.PurpleEagles.com/Watch.
- For ticket information, contact the Niagara Athletic Ticket Office at 716-286 TIXX, tickets@Niagara.edu or www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets.
