LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Niagara (8-9, 4-3 MAAC) earned its first win inside Alumni Gymnasium since 2015 with a 78-74 victory over Rider (5-13, 2-5 MAAC) in Friday night MAAC men’s basketball action.
Harlan Obioha led the way for Niagara, recording a 22 point, 12 rebound double-double. Graduate transfer Luke Bumbalough tallied 19 points and a team-high four assists while Ahmad Henderson II came off the bench for the first time this season, scoring 14 points. Dre Bullock grabbed a career-high 12 caroms to go with his six points and three assists. As a team, Niagara went 27-for-52 from the field, including 9-for-18 from behind the arc and 15-for-21 at the line. The Purple Eagles won the rebound battle, 36-29.
Rider saw three players reach double-figures, led by Allen Powell’s 17 points. T.J. Weeks Jr. finished with 14 points and Tariq Ingram added 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the loss. The Broncs finished the contest shooting 43.3 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from three, and 81.0 percent at the line.
How it Happened
After seven-minutes of action and eight turnovers, the Purple Eagles trailed Rider, 16-6, however they wouldn’t let the early struggles plaque the remainder of the half, using a 12-3 run over the next 3:17 to make it a 19-18 Rider lead with 9:47 to play in the first half.
Five different Purple Eagles would score during the three-minute stretch as Niagara went 5-for-6 from the field to pull within one.
Rider would go up by five, 27-23, just a few minutes later, but Niagara would once again respond, this time with a 12-7 run that gave Niagara its first lead, 35-34, since the opening minutes. The Purple Eagles would remain in front by the time the first half came to a close, taking a 38-36 lead into the break.
Niagara would outscore Rider 12-6 over the first four minutes of the second half, taking its largest lead of the night, 50-42. However, three-straight 3-pointers by the Broncs gave Rider a 51-50 lead and forced Niagara to use a timeout.
Neither team would lead by more than three points over the next seven minutes until Rider’s Allen Powell hit a jumper with 5:16 on the clock to give the Broncs a four-point advantage, 66-62.
Niagara would respond yet again as Bumbalough made back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Purple and White a 68-66 lead with just over three minutes to play.
Just under two minutes later, the Broncs would make a pair of free throws to tie the game at 70, but following a Niagara timeout, Henderson would pull up from the elbow to give Niagara a 72-70 lead with under one minute remaining.
The Purple Eagles would go 6-for-6 at the line in the final minute and Rider would miss a late 3-pointer, sealing the road win for Niagara.
Niagara Notes
• The Purple Eagles improve to 26-31 all-time against the Broncs with their first road win over Rider since Feb. 21, 2015.
• Bullock’s 12 rebounds are a career-high for the Franklinton, N.C., native, surpassing his previous career-best of eight set as a member of LA Tech last season.
• Obioha surpassed his previous career-high of 21 points set earlier this season at Manhattan with his 22-point performance.
• Obioha recorded his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career. The Hoxie, Kansas, native has recorded 20-plus points in all three of his double-double’s this season.
• Niagara has now had a player record 20 or more points in ten consecutive games.
• With 19 points tonight, Bumbalough enters Sunday’s game at Mount St. Mary’s 14 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Niagara shot over 50.0 percent from 3-point territory for the second time this season. The Purple Eagles are 2-0 in those contests.
• Niagara has outrebounded its opponents nine times this season, improving to 8-1 in those games.
• Obioha and Bullock are the first pair of Niagara teammates to grab 10 or more rebounds in the same game since Marvin Prochet and Greg King did it against Siena on March 3, 2019.
• NU is now 3-1 on Friday this season.
• The Purple and White finished with 34 points in the paint, including 18 from Obioha.
Up Next
The Purple and White will head to Emmitsburg, Md., to take on Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+. Todd Callen will describe the action on AM 1400.
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