LEWISTON — Moments into the second half, Niagara had the lead and were looking to pull off an upset against the best team in the MAAC.
With 19:38 to go in the game, Niagara’s Justin Hawkins was fouled and converted the and-one to give his team a 31-30 lead. The lead was short lived however as Merrimack quickly retook the lead and went on a run to push the lead out to as much as 21 points.
Niagara tried to fight back but they were unable to overcome the hole over the remainder of the game in a 73-65 Loss to Merrimack, Sunday, at Niagara’s Gallagher Center.
During Merrimack’s 34-12 run, the visitors shot 13-for-17 from the field, 6-for-10 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Niagara shot 5-for-10 from the field, 1-for-3 from beyond the arc and 1-for-2 from the free throw line.
“I thought we had a few too many turnovers and they took advantage of those in transition and then they made a couple outside shots in a row consecutively,”Niagara head coach Greg Paulus said. “… They moved the ball really well, got a number of guys that can make shots. They got in a really good rhythm in that second half and that allowed them to separate a little bit from us.”
The biggest difference in the game was points off turnovers. Merrimack was able to score 27 points off 16 Niagara turnovers whereas Niagara scored 10 points off 11 turnovers.
After facing a 21-point deficit at 64-43 with 6:53 to go in the game, Niagara battled their way back with a 23-11 run to get as close as the final margin of seven points.
“I think the competitive spirit of the team in the second half and I guess you could say the second half of every game all season,” Niagara junior Trenton Walters said. “We’ve really tried to fight and claw because there’s never been an instance where before the game was over we thought the game was over. So we kept playing to the end and that’s reflective of today.”
The Purple Eagles were playing without their leading scorer Justin Page and sophomore AJ McBride in this game who Paulus said are no longer with the program.
The loss ends Niagara’s season at 8-22 overall.