2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by 1st-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. They finished the season 12–20 overall, 9–11 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the #6 seed in the MAAC Tournament, they defeated #11 seed Marist 56–54 in the first round. Before they could face #3 seeded Rider in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
ConferenceMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference
2019–20 record12–20 (9–11 MAAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Bryan Smothers
  • Brett Ervin
Home arenaGallagher Center
2019–20 MAAC men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Siena155 .750  2010  .667
Saint Peter's146 .700  1812  .600
Rider128 .600  1812  .600
Monmouth128 .600  1813  .581
Quinnipiac1010 .500  1515  .500
Niagara911 .450  1220  .375
Iona911 .450  1216  .429
Fairfield812 .400  1220  .375
Manhattan812 .400  1317  .433
Canisius713 .350  1220  .375
Marist614 .300  723  .233
Rankings from AP Poll
NOTE: The 2020 MAAC Tournament was canceled during the quarterfinals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Purple Eagles finished the 2018–19 season 13–19 overall, 6–12 in MAAC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. As the 11th seed in the 2019 MAAC Tournament, they were defeated by No. 6 seed Monmouth in the first round, 76–72.[1]

On March 11, 2019, head coach Chris Casey was fired.[2] He finished at Niagara with a six-year record of 64–129. On March 28, 2019, Niagara hired Patrick Beilein as their new head coach.[3] On October 24, it was announced that head coach Patrick Beilein would be stepping down from his job, citing personal reasons.[4] That same day, assistant coach Greg Paulus was announced as interim head coach.[5]

Roster

2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
G 0 Justin Roberts 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)189 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Lawrence, Kansas
F 1 Kobi Nwandu 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)210 lb (95 kg) Jr York, Pennsylvania
F 2 Noah Waterman 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)210 lb (95 kg) Fr Savannah, New York
F 4 Italo Cicotti 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)205 lb (93 kg) Jr São Paulo, Brazil
G 5 James Towns 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)170 lb (77 kg) Sr Detroit, Michigan
G 10 Marcus Hammond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)160 lb (73 kg) So Queens, New York
G 11 Raheem Solomon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)180 lb (82 kg) So Hartford, Connecticut
G 12 Shandon Brown 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)175 lb (79 kg) So Boston, Massachusetts
F 15 Greg Kuakumensah 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)200 lb (91 kg) Jr Worcester, Massachusetts
G 21 Damani Thomas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)165 lb (75 kg) Fr Kingston, New York
G/F 22 Nick MacDonald 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)185 lb (84 kg) Fr Amherst, New York
G 24 Trey Syroka 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)150 lb (68 kg) Fr Toledo, Ohio
F 32 Will Engelhardt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)205 lb (93 kg) Fr Syracuse, New York
G 33 Steven Levnaic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)180 lb (82 kg) Fr Hamilton, Ontario
F 34 Nicholas Kratholm 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)220 lb (100 kg) Jr Louisville, Kentucky
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 22, 2019

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2019*
7:00 pm
Roberts Wesleyan W 72–57 
Gallagher Center (267)
Lewiston, NY
Non-conference regular season
November 8, 2019*
7:00 pm
at Drexel
Garden State Showcase
L 64–72  0–1
Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,129)
Philadelphia, PA
November 10, 2019*
1:00 pm, BTN Plus
at Rutgers
Garden State Showcase
L 39–86  0–2
Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,203)
Piscataway, NJ
November 13, 2019*
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Stephen F. Austin
Garden State Showcase
L 80–89  0–3
William R. Johnson Coliseum (2,441)
Nacogdoches, TX
November 18, 2019*
7:00 pm
Bryant
Garden State Showcase
L 62–73  0–4
Gallagher Center (1,251)
Lewiston, NY
November 27, 2019*
7:00 pm
at Purdue Fort Wayne L 54–77  0–5
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (1,055)
Fort Wayne, IN
December 1, 2019*
4:00 pm
at Norfolk State W 65–61  1–5
Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall (824)
Norfolk, VA
December 8, 2019*
1:00 pm
Colgate W 93–82  2–5
Gallagher Center (1,276)
Lewiston, NY
December 14, 2019*
7:00 pm
at Albany L 80–84  2–6
SEFCU Arena (1,776)
Albany, NY
December 18, 2019*
7:00 pm
at St. Bonaventure L 70–87  2–7
Reilly Center (2,016)
St. Bonaventure, NY
December 21, 2019*
2:00 pm
at Buffalo L 72–92  2–8
Alumni Arena (2,644)
Amherst, NY
December 28, 2019*
7:00 pm
at Syracuse L 57–71  2–9
Carrier Dome (18,125)
Syracuse, NY
MAAC regular season
January 3, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Fairfield W 75–66  3–9
(1–0)
Gallagher Center (1,115)
Lewiston, NY
January 5, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Manhattan L 62–67  3–10
(1–1)
Gallagher Center (1,078)
Lewiston, NY
January 10, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Quinnipiac L 56–67  3–11
(1–2)
People's United Center (912)
Hamden, CT
January 12, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Iona W 70–69  4–11
(2–2)
Hynes Athletic Center (1,317)
New Rochelle, NY
January 17, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Rider W 70–68  5–11
(3–2)
Gallagher Center (980)
Lewiston, NY
January 19, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Siena W 72–71  6–11
(4–2)
Gallagher Center (1,020)
Lewiston, NY
January 24, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Monmouth L 71–82  6–12
(4–3)
OceanFirst Bank Center (2,415)
West Long Branch, NJ
January 26, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Saint Peter's L 53–58  6–13
(4–4)
Yanitelli Center (522)
Jersey City, NJ
January 31, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Marist L 48–67  6–14
(4–5)
Gallagher Center (1,066)
Lewiston, NY
February 2, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Quinnipiac W 75–59  7–14
(5–5)
Gallagher Center (935)
Lewiston, NY
February 7, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPNU
at Manhattan L 59–77  7–15
(5–6)
Draddy Gymnasium (1,345)
Riverdale, NY
February 9, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Rider L 58–73  7–16
(5–7)
Alumni Gymnasium (1,528)
Lawrenceville, NJ
February 12, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Canisius
Battle of the Bridge
W 69–66  8–16
(6–7)
Gallagher Center (1,568)
Lewiston, NY
February 16, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Monmouth W 77–72  9–16
(7–7)
Gallagher Center (1,111)
Lewiston, NY
February 21, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Fairfield L 60–61  9–17
(7–8)
Alumni Hall (1,656)
Fairfield, CT
February 23, 2020
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Marist L 54–76  9–18
(7–9)
McCann Arena (1,549)
Poughkeepsie, NY
February 27, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Saint Peter's W 63–54  10–18
(8–9)
Gallagher Center (985)
Lewiston, NY
February 29, 2020
1:00 pm, ESPN3
Iona W 100–91 OT 11–18
(9–9)
Gallagher Center (1,193)
Lewiston, NY
March 4, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Siena L 55–77  11–19
(9–10)
Times Union Center (7,146)
Albany, NY
March 6, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Canisius
Battle of the Bridge
L 63–67  11–20
(9–11)
Koessler Athletic Center (1,805)
Buffalo, NY
MAAC Tournament
March 10, 2020
10:15 pm, ESPN3
(6) vs. (11) Marist
First round
W 56–54  12–20
Boardwalk Hall[6] (878)
Atlantic City, NJ
March 12, 2020
7:00 pm, ESPN3
(6) vs. (3) Rider
Quarterfinals
Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Boardwalk Hall 
Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Source[7]

References

  1. "Niagara's Season Ends In MAAC First Round Nail-Biter". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  2. "Niagara Announces Change In Leadership For Men's Basketball Program". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  3. "Niagara University Names Patrick Beilein As Men's Basketball Head Coach". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  4. "Patrick Beilein resigns as Niagara men's basketball coach, citing 'personal reasons'". The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  5. "Greg Paulus Named Interim Head Coach". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  6. "2020 MAAC Men's & Women's Basketball Championships". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  7. "2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
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