NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men’s basketball team (3-5, 0-2 MAAC) was defeated by Fairfield (5-3, 2-0 MAAC) on Sunday.
Game Recap
First Half
- The Stags went on a 9-2 run to open the half, but a layup from Marcus Hammond and a 3-pointer from Sam Iorio left Niagara trailing by just two points, 9-7.
- A Jordan Cintron layup kept NU within two, 11-9, with over 16 minutes to go in the half.
- A 3-pointer from Rob Brown III and a bucket from Touba Traore gave the Purple Eagles their first lead of the game, 14-13.
- The Stags took a one-point advantage, but two points each from Greg Kuakumensah and Justin Roberts put Niagara up by three, 18-15, with a little under 13 minutes left in the half.
- Fairfield reclaimed the lead, 22-18, before Niagara went on a 9-0 run, including four points from Cintron, two from Iorio and a triple from Justin Roberts, to take a 27-22 lead.
- The Purple Eagles and the Stags traded buckets in the remainder of the half and a layup from Traore in the final seconds left Niagara trailing by just two points, 35-33, going into halftime.
Second Half
- Fairfield went on a 10-0 run to open the second half to take a 45-33 lead over the Purple Eagles.
- A jumper from Hammond cut the Stags’ lead to 10 points, 45-35, with 17:40 left in the game.
- The Stags got ahead by 13, 50-37, but a jumper from Hammond and a layup from Roberts left Niagara down by single digits, 50-41.
- The Fairfield lead was back at 13 points, 63-50, with 8:24 to go.
- A trey from Jordan Cintron and a layup from Kuakumensah put Niagara within eight points of the Stags, 63-55.
- With a little over one minute left, the Stags led the Purple Eagles, 73-61. A triple from Roberts put Niagara down by just nine points, 73-64.
- Thomasson added five more points in the game and Iorio added three, but the Purple Eagles fell to the Stags, 81-71.
Eagle’s Eye On
- Iorio led the team in rebounding with seven boards to reach exactly 500 career rebounds. He also added nine points and two assists.
- Cintron led the team in scoring with 14 points and had a team-high three steals. He also went 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
- Roberts had a season-high 12 points and tied his career-high in rebounds with five.
- Hammond added 11 points, five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
- Thomasson had 10 points for the Purple Eagles.
- Kuakumensah led the team in blocks with two and added eight points.
Up Next
- The Purple Eagles resume non-conference play with a game at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m.
Stay connected with Niagara Men’s Basketball on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Niagara Athletics all year long on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, purpleeagles.com and the Niagara Purple Eagles app
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