LEWISTON — The old cliche is that basketball is a game of runs. Niagara took that to the extreme.
During a second-half stretch that spanned 7 minutes, 13 seconds, nothing went in the right direction for the Purple Eagles. They missed open layups, committed turnovers and fell behind by as many as 16 to Saint Peter’s as part of a 15-3 run.
And then, on a layup by Yaw Obeng-Mensah with 9:40 to play, Niagara found some life. Behind an aggressive, attacking style and a full-court press, the Purple Eagles rallied to within three on a 15-2 run over a four-minute stretch.
They just didn’t have enough to finish off the comeback.
Saint Peter’s made three of its next four shots, but Niagara continued to chip away, pulling back within three on a pair of free throws by Yaw Obeng-Mensah with 40.5 seconds left. After corralling a rebound, Ahmad Henderson II raced up the floor, but his 3-point attempt with 5 seconds remaining fell short and the Peacocks escaped the Gallagher Center with a 72-67 win in the MAAC opener for both teams.
“(Saint Peter’s) made some tough shots and it was different guys that did,” Niagara coach Greg Paulus said. “And then some guys that maybe don’t shoot as well 3-point percentage-wise really stepped up and made some really, really good 3-point shots there from early on in the first half and down the stretch in the second half.”
Niagara and Saint Peter’s took two different approaches in the first half. The Purple Eagles attacked the paint, scoring 16 points in the lane and adding 10 more from the free-throw line while shooting 57.1% in the first half.
“That’s something we preach about all the time in practice is being aggressive,” Obeng-Mensah said. “Coach (Paulus) tells our guys all the time to be aggressive because they’re going to foul us. And I’m not gonna lie, we’re a good free throw shooting team, so what we did tonight, we attacked the basket, got to the line and we did what we had to do.”
The Peacocks, meanwhile, were given some wide-open looks behind the 3-point line after coming into the game averaging 5.8 makes on 29.3% shooting for the season. But in the first 20 minutes, Saint Peter’s went 7 of 14 from beyond the arc to grab a 40-35 lead going into the halftime intermission, while shooting 56.3% for the game after coming in shooting 36.1% for the season.
Michael Houge, a 6-foot-6 forward, averaged 12.6 points per game in the first five games of the season but had 15 of his team-high 19 in the first half as the Peacocks shot 15 of 25 from the field.
After a pair of baskets trimmed the deficit to four in the second half, Niagara (1-4) went cold as the lead began to swell. As Saint Peter’s built a 59-43 lead, the Purple Eagles went 1 of 8 from the field during that stretch, while committing four turnovers.
Although Niagara was able to hold the Peacocks to 1 of 7 shooting from beyond the arc, it only went 3 of 10 from 3-point range on the other end, while failing to convert 13 layups and tallying just three assists on 21 made field goals.
“(Saint Peter’s has) some good length down there, and for us, that’s getting those types of shots and now we want to convert them,” Paulus said. “Putting ourselves in good positions there, but I like those attempts, and we’re going to keep working on those so we can improve in that area.”
As Saint Peter’s (2-4) appeared ready to pull away, Niagara began to use a full-court press to generate pressure and it worked. With the length of the 6-foot-7 Obeng-Mensah at the head of the press and two attacking guards in the front court to force traps, 7-footer Harlan Obioha was able to lurk in the middle of the court and they forced four steals during the comeback run.
Additionally, the Purple Eagles continued to attack the paint and scored nine of their 15 points from the free-throw line during that stretch — capped by a three-point play by Braxton Bayless — and went 22 of 28 for the game. Even with the missed layups, Niagara had a 28-24 advantage in the paint and scored 20 points off 15 turnovers in the game, while beating the nation’s No. 13 team in net rebounds 27-19 on the glass.
“I feel like the diamond press was good. We got a few turnovers, made our run,” said Obeng-Mensah, who scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. “… (Paulus) preaches to us about just being aggressive you know, cause teams (are) gonna stumble and then it’s gonna come into our favor.”
Bayless scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, while Henderson scored 10 of his 14 in the first half.
Niagara returns to action against Quinnipiac at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Gallagher Center.