ALBANY — A dominant second half pushed the ninth-seeded Purple Eagles past the No. 8 seed Quinnipiac Bobcats, 88-69, in the 2017 MAAC Tournament First Round on Thursday.
A 16-3 run midway through the second half turned a close game into a rout in favor of the Purple Eagles. Leading 56-53 with nine minutes remaining, James Towns started the run with a 3-pointer as Niagara scored 12 straight points with Towns pouring in 10 points during the stretch. A pair of free throws by Marvin Prochet capped the run with the Purple Eagles holding a commanding 72-56 lead with 5:40 left. Niagara used another double-digit run to seal the game. The Purple Eagles reeled off a 10-0 run in a two-minute span en route to the game’s largest lead, 83-61, with three minutes remaining.
The tightly contested first half featured 10 lead changes and five ties after the Purple Eagles raced out to a 9-2 lead, with Maurice Taylor Jr. providing five points, through the opening six minutes. A Marvin Prochet putback layup with 38 seconds left in the half gave NU a 29-27 halftime lead. Trailing 35-32 early into the second half, Niagara went ahead for good on a 14-3 run with five different Purple Eagles scoring.
The Purple Eagles will face No. 1 seed Monmouth in the MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN3 and on the Niagara Sports Network via AM 1400 WWWS and PurpleEagles.com.
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