2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
ConferenceMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record16–16 (11–9 MAAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachKevin Devitt
Assistant coaches
  • Tyler Kelly
  • Chris Buchanan
  • Austin Kelley
Home arenaGallagher Center
Seasons
2023–24 MAAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Quinnipiac 15 – 5   .750 24 – 10   .706
Fairfield 14 – 6   .700 24 – 13   .649
Marist 12 – 8   .600 18 – 13   .581
Rider 12 – 8   .600 15 – 17   .469
Saint Peter's † 12 – 8   .600 19 – 14   .576
Niagara 11 – 9   .550 16 – 16   .500
Iona 10 – 10   .500 16 – 17   .485
Mount St. Mary's 9 – 11   .450 13 – 19   .406
Canisius 8 – 12   .400 14 – 18   .438
Manhattan 4 – 16   .200 7 – 23   .233
Siena 3 – 17   .150 4 – 28   .125
† 2024 MAAC tournament winner

The 2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by fifth-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Purple Eagles finished the season 16–16, 11–9 in MAAC play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Siena in the first round of the MAAC tournament before losing to Marist in the quarterfinals.

Previous season

The Purple Eagles finished the 2022–23 season 16–15, 10–10 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place.[1] They defeated Siena in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament,[2] before falling to top-seeded and eventual champions Iona in the quarterfinals.[3]

Roster

2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Randy Tucker 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 GS Green Bay Rock Island, IL
G 2 Lance Erving 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Chipola College Leesburg, FL
G 4 Braxton Bayless 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Indian Hills Community College Ankeny, IA
G 5 Luke Bumbalough 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) GS Ball State New Castle, IN
G 10 Jalen Brown 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So De La Salle Institute Chicago, IL
G 11 Ahmad II Henderson 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Brother Rice High School Monee, IL
G 12 Kwane II Marble 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) GS Loyola Marymount Denver, CO
G 13 Dre Bullock 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Louisiana Tech Franklinton, NC
F 15 Yaw Obeng-Mensah 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr UMBC Toronto, ON
G 20 Malik Edwards 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr William Penn Philadelphia, PA
F 24 Aime Rutayisire 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Barton Community College Adelaide, Australia
F 55 Harlan Obioha 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 280 lb (127 kg) So Hoxie High School Hoxie, KS
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 7, 2023

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX/ESPN+ 		at Notre Dame L 63–70  0–1
 Joyce Center (7,338)
Notre Dame, IN
November 11, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Bucknell L 64–73  0–2
 Gallagher Center (1,239)
Lewiston, NY
November 16, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Hawai'i L 73–92  0–3
 Stan Sheriff Center (3,748)
Honolulu, HI
November 25, 2023*
4:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Saint Francis (PA) W 69–61  1–3
 DeGol Arena (351)
Loretto, PA
December 1, 2023
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Saint Peter's L 67–72  1–4
(0–1) 		Gallagher Center (1,015)
Lewiston, NY
December 3, 2023
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Quinnipiac L 68–75 OT 1–5
(0–2) 		Gallagher Center (872)
Lewiston, NY
December 6, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		St. Bonaventure L 60–94  1–6
 Gallagher Center (1,494)
Lewiston, NY
December 10, 2023*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Buffalo State W 113–64  2–6
 Gallagher Center (587)
Lewiston, NY
December 16, 2023*
1:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		NJIT W 89–81  3–6
 Gallagher Center (362)
Lewiston, NY
December 19, 2023*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Binghamton L 69–74  3–7
 Binghamton University Events Center (1,533)
Vestal, NY
December 21, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+/ACCNX 		at Syracuse L 71–83  3–8
 JMA Wireless Dome (18,239)
Syracuse, NY
December 29, 2023*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Buffalo W 69–63  4–8
 Alumni Arena (4,663)
Amherst, NY
January 5, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Manhattan W 81–67  5–8
(1–2) 		Draddy Gymnasium (487)
Riverdale, NY
January 7, 2024
1:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Iona W 75–73  6–8
(2–2) 		Hynes Athletics Center (2,001)
New Rochelle, NY
January 12, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Fairfield W 96–72  7–8
(3–2) 		Gallagher Center (995)
Lewiston, NY
January 15, 2024
12:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Siena L 88–93  7–9
(3–3) 		Gallagher Center (724)
Lewiston, NY
January 19, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Rider W 78–74  8–9
(4–3) 		Alumni Gymnasium (1,014)
Lawrenceville, NJ
January 21, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Mount St. Mary's W 82–71  9–9
(5–3) 		Knott Arena (2,412)
Emmitsburg, MD
January 26, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Marist W 67–62  10–9
(6–3) 		Gallagher Center (1,687)
Lewiston, NY
January 28, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Manhattan L 78–84 OT 10–10
(6–4) 		Gallagher Center (905)
Lewiston, NY
February 2, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Saint Peter's W 68–59 OT 11–10
(7–4) 		Run Baby Run Arena (645)
Jersey City, NJ
February 6, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Canisius
Battle of the Bridge 		W 69–64  12–10
(8–4) 		Gallagher Center (1,295)
Lewiston, NY
February 8, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Iona L 71–74  12–11
(8–5) 		Gallagher Center (1,041)
Lewiston, NY
February 16, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Fairfield W 65–63  13–11
(9–5) 		Leo D. Mahoney Arena (1,952)
Fairfield, CT
February 18, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Quinnipiac W 80–66  14–11
(10–5) 		M&T Bank Arena (1,987)
Hamden, CT
February 23, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Canisius
Battle of the Bridge 		L 59–69  14–12
(10–6) 		Koessler Athletic Center (1,501)
Buffalo, NY
March 1, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Rider L 61–71  14–13
(10–7) 		Gallagher Center (1,353)
Lewiston, NY
March 3, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		Mount St. Mary's L 72–91  14–14
(10–8) 		Gallagher Center (1,077)
Lewiston, NY
March 7, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Siena W 66–59  15–14
(11–8) 		MVP Arena (4,817)
Albany, NY
March 9, 2024
2:00 p.m., ESPN+ 		at Marist L 62–63  15–15
(11–9) 		McCann Arena (1,277)
Poughkeepsie, NY
MAAC tournament
March 12, 2024
9:45 p.m., ESPN+ 		(6) vs. (11) Siena
First round 		W 67–65  16–15
 Boardwalk Hall (1,717)
Atlantic City, NJ
March 14, 2024
6:30 p.m., ESPN+ 		(6) vs. (3) Marist
Quarterfinals 		L 59–65  16–16
 Boardwalk Hall 
Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources:[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "2022-23 Men's Basketball Standings". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Purple Eagles Survive and Advance". Niagara University Athletics. March 10, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "Niagara ousted by Iona in MAAC tournament". WGRZ. March 10, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023 – via Associated Press.
  4. ^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  5. ^ "Niagara Purple Eagles Schedule 2023-24". ESPN. Retrieved November 7, 2023.