LEWISTON — Old met new when alumni from Niagara’s 2005 MAAC championship team met the current players.
And the message was clear: Don’t lose on our day.
On a night Niagara celebrated the 20th anniversary of its first MAAC championship team, the Purple Eagle defense tightened up in the second half and got 29 points off the bench to take down Saint Peter’s, 70-60, Friday.
“I think that was one of the best defensive games we’ve played,” senior Jaeden Marshall said. “We just kept on guarding for 40 minutes, no matter what happened, no matter if we missed the layup, missed the shot, open three, whatever, we just kept guarding. I felt like we just let that show, and that’s why we came out with a victory today.”
Olumide Adelodun, who led all scorers with 19 points, netted a 3-pointer within 11 seconds of tipoff to give Niagara (7-8, 2-2 MAAC) the first points of the game before going ahead 8-5 and spending the next 2 ½ minutes without a bucket.
Jaeden Marshall broke the drought with a triple to lead 13-7 before what was almost a turnover ended in a score from Damondre McKnight to put the Purple Eagles ahead 16-9 at the media timeout.
Niagara, which entered the game averaging 11.8 turnovers a game, turned the ball over 15 times against the Peacocks, which SPU turned into 14 points.
“We’re gonna have droughts,” said Marshall. “Might have eight possessions where we don’t score the ball. We just gotta stay the course. No matter what, we just stayed the course, believed in each other and kept on sharing the ball.”
The teams traded trips to the charity stripe and then Josiah Davis, who left the game with an apparent wrist injury after being blocked under the rim, added to the momentum with a dunk to give Niagara a nine-point advantage, which was quickly trimmed down to a four-point advantage with eight minutes until the break after Saint Peter’s (5-7, 0-4) took advantage of their free throw shots.
Marshall, who had 17 points on the night, netted a perfectly timed jumper and on the next possession Zion Russell found Jahari Williamson in the corner, who dished it to Will Shortt on the inside to take back an eight-point advantage.
“We had some timely, connecting plays,” Adelodun said. “There was no one on one, it was swing, get into the paint, kick out. And when you have open shots, the chances of it going in are a lot higher.”
A layup from SPU made it a one possession game with 2:33 until the break, but the Purple Eagles quickly responded with a 4-0 run to lead 32-25 at the half.
The Peacocks opened up the second half with more intensity and Mouhamed Sow got in the air with a dunk and a pair of second-chance points to cut their deficit to four (35-31).
But, SPU did not have the same energy or efficiency after the break that NU had after talking about what needed to be done in the second half of the game.
“We had a conversation in the locker room about them collapsing on drives and in the second half, we really looked to kick out of those positions and get open shots,” Marshall said. “We drive the paint, found the open guy, and I felt like that was the biggest difference. Our defensive level picked up, the bench was active, everybody was active, talking, and I felt the intensity rising.”
Russell swooshed a 3 to go up eight and be the catalyst of an 11-3 run that put Niagara ahead 48-35, and was the start of the end for SPU.
St. Peter’s netted five consecutive points before Justin Page and Adelodun both sank the ball from the outside to propel the Purple Eagles on a 10-2 run that was capped with a 60-42 advantage, essentially putting the dagger in SPU, as they trailed by double-digits for the remainder of the matchup.
The Peacocks took advantage of three scoreless minutes from NU and went on a 10-5 run to trail 65-54, and Adelodun smashed down an open dunk to end the game with a 70-60 victory.
The Purple Eagles made 42.9% of their threes but netted only 59% of their shots from the charity stripe. They outrebounded SPU 32-28 and had 28 points in the paint, including 12 fastbreak buckets. Their largest advantage of the night was an 18-point lead with 7:38 left to play.
“Really proud of the group,” head coach Greg Paulus said. “I thought we just continued to play and get to the next play and made enough plays down the stretch against a team that is a terrific defensive team, well balanced and well coached, and we were fortunate to make some plays down the stretch.”
Niagara hosts Rider at noon Sunday at the Gallagher Center.