Niagara survives and advances after rubber match with Siena

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Getting first-round jitters out of the way is always important this time of year. 

By pulling out a 67-65 victory over 11-seed Siena, Niagara may have enough of the survive-and-advance graces on its side to make a run at the program’s first MAAC Championship since 2007.

Siena hasn’t been an easy matchup for Greg Paulus and the Purple Eagles this season, which included a 93-88 loss at home to the Saints on January 15, before gutting out a tense 66-59 win in Albany just six days ago. 

Siena led in the early stages of Tuesday’s rubber match, 20-13, after a corner three from Sveinn Birgisson at the 10:03 mark of the first half. However, Niagara clawed its way back, manufacturing a 7-0 run to tie the game at 20, and then a 6-0 run late to retake a 31-29 advantage following a basket from Braxton Bayless. A three-pointer from Siena walk-on Brendan Coyle with two seconds left sent the Purple Eagles into the locker room facing a 32-31 deficit. 

“I thought they made some really high level plays,” Paulus said about Siena. 

The second half featured even better looks from the mid-range for Siena against the Niagara defense, including a spark from Zek Tekin off the bench and a sense of poise from Michael Eley in getting to his spots. Both have been injured for a large chunk of the season — Tekin had not played since February 18 — yet were able to combine for 26 points against Niagara. 

Some big baskets from Harlan Obioha kept Niagara right in the mix, and the largest deficit the Purple Eagles faced in the second half was five. First, Mason Courtney connected on a mid-range jumper to make the score 55-50 at the 6:34 mark before Niagara answered with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 57. 

Paulus was pleased with his team’s ability to consistently make runs out of timeouts.

“I thought there was tremendous poise and I loved the body language,” Paulus said. “Credit to our guys for making big time plays and I love the trust they had in one another.”

Down the stretch, Niagara’s execution was in its best form when it needed to be. With the help of some defensive stops, the Purple Eagles rolled with momentum and got two huge baskets from Obioha — the second came off a beautiful pick-and-roll with Luke Bumbalough — that stretched the lead to 63-59 at the 1:46 mark. Siena still had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Coyle failed to get off a clean look with his three clanging off the side of the rim. 

Dre Bullock continued his season rise with 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting from three. Obioha added 15 on 7-of-8 shooting and Bayless chipped in 14. 

For a Niagara program that has two semifinal appearances over the last three years, it’s about getting over the hump now. Paulus thought the scene that unfolded on Tuesday night turned Wednesday morning — the game ended after 1 a.m. — lived up to the March stakes. Thursday’s meeting on deck with third seed Marist should ramp up the intensity even more.

“We showed them a One Shining Moment video,” Paulus said of drawing inspiration from the history of college basketball. “I told them, we’re 0-0 and everyone else is too. We lay it on the line together, and whether we win or lose, I’m really proud of our guys.”