Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball

For information on all Niagara University sports, see Niagara Purple Eagles

The Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team is the college basketball team that represents Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The team formerly played at the now-defunct Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center from 1973 to 1982 and from 1988 to 1996.

History Niagara has played in the NCAA Tournament three times. They last played in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in 2007. They played in the National Invitation Tournament on 14 occasions, advancing to the championship game in 1972 before losing to Maryland. Niagara has been ranked in the AP Final Polls twice, 16th in 1954 and 17th in 1970.

Coaching history

Roster + 2023-2024 Niagara Purple Eagles1Randy TuckerGuard6'4"Graduate StudentGreen BayRock Island, Illinois 2Lance ErvingGuard6'3"SeniorChipola Community CollegeLeesburg, Florida 4Braxton BaylessGuard6'2"SeniorIndian Hills Community College Ankeny, Iowa 5Luke BumbaloughGuard6'1"Graduate StudentBall StateNew Castle, Indiana 10Jalen BrownGuard5'10"SophomoreDe La SalleChicago, Illinois 11Ahmad Henderson IIGuard5'9"SophomoreBrother RiceChicago, Illinois 12Kwane Marble Jr.Guard6'5"Graduate StudentLoyola MarymountDenver, Colorado 13Dre BullockForward6'6"JuniorLA TechFranklinton, North Carolina 15Yaw Obeng-MensahForward6'7"SeniorUMBCToronto, Ontario 20Malik EdwardsGuard6'2"JuniorWilliam Penn (NAIA)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 24Aime RutayisireForward6'8"SophomoreBarton (NJCAA)Adelaide, South Australia 55Harlan ObiohaForward7'0"SophomoreHoxie High School Hoxie, Kansas

Postseason

NCAA tournament results The Purple Eagles have appeared in three NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 2–4.

1970 First RoundSweet SixteenRegional third place Game PennsylvaniaVillanovaNorth Carolina State W 79–69L 73–98L 88–108 2005 First Round Oklahoma L 67–85 2007 Opening RoundFirst Round Florida A&MKansas W 77–69L 67–107

NIT results The Purple Eagles have appeared in 14 National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 9–14.

1950 First Round Western Kentucky L 72–79 1953 First RoundQuarterfinals BYUSeton Hall W 82–76L 74–79 1954 QuarterfinalsSemifinals3rd Place Game DaytonDuquesneWestern Kentucky W 77–74L 51–66W 71–65 1955 First RoundQuarterfinals LafayetteCincinnati W 83–70L 83–85 1956 Quarterfinals St. Francis (NY) L 72–74 1958 First Round Xavier L 86–95 1961 Quarterfinals Providence L 68–71 1972 First RoundQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals UTEPPrincetonSt. John'sMaryland W 76–57W 65–60W 69–67L 69–100 1976 First Round Kentucky L 61–67 1987 First RoundSecond Round Seton HallLa Salle W 74–65L 81–89 1993 First Round Boston College L 83–87 2004 Opening RoundFirst Round TroyNebraska W 87–83L 70–78 2009 First Round Rhode Island L 62–68 2013 First Round Maryland L 72–86

CIT results The Purple Eagles made their first appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) in 2018. Their record is 0–1.

2018 First Round Eastern Michigan L 65–83

All time MAAC Awards All-MAAC First TeamPatrick Jones1989-90Brian Clifford1991-921992-93Chris Watson1995-96Alvin Young1998-99Demond Stewart2000-01Daryl Greene2001-02Juan Mendez2002-032003-042004-05Charron Fisher2006-072007-08Tyrone Lewis2008-09Bilal Benn2008-09Juan'ya Green2012-13Antoine Mason2012-13Kahlil Dukes2017-18Marcus Hammond2019-202021-22Noah Thomasson2022-23All-MAAC Second TeamBrian Clifford1990-91Rob Robinson1992-93Chris Watson1994-951996-97Jermaine Young1997-98Jeremiah Johnson1998-99Demond Stewart1999-00Daryl Greene1999-00Tremmell Darden2002-032003-04Alvin Cruz2004-05Clif Brown2006-07Tyrone Lewis2007-08Benson Egemonye2008-09Tyrone Lewis2009-10Bilal Benn2009-10Anthony Nelson2010-11Antoine Mason2013-14Matt Scott2017-18Marvin Prochet2018-19Kobi Nwandu2020-21Marcus Hammond2020-21All-MAAC Third TeamAlvin Young1997-98Michael Schmidt2000-01Tremmell Darden2001-02David Brooks2003-04James Reaves2003-04Clif Brown2005-06Lorenzo Miles2006-07Stanley Hodge2007-08Juan'ya Green2011-12Matt Scott2015-162016-17All-MAAC Rookie TeamJuan Mendez2001-02Tyrone Lewis2006-07Anthony Nelson2007-08Marvin Jordan2010-11Juan'ya Green2011-12Antoine Mason2011-12T.J. Cline2012-13Dominique Reid2014-15Player of the yearAlvin Young1998-99Demond Stewart2000-01Juan Mendez2004-05Kahlil Dukes2017-18Defensive player of the yearTyrone Lewis2008-09Anthony Nelson2010-11Rookie of the yearBrian Clifford1990-91Juan'ya Green2011-12Sixth man of the yearJuan Mendez2001-02James Mathis 2004-05Clif Brown2005-06Coach of the YearJack Armstrong1992-93Joe Mihalich1998-992004-052012-13 *Up to 2021-22 season

Seasons

Niagara wins vs. the AP Top 25

YearOpponentScoreSite1950–51#17 #7 W 72–57W 77–75HomeAway 1953–54#6 La Salle#16 La Salle#14 #4 Western KentuckyW 74–66W 69–50W 77–74W 71–65HomeHomeNeutralNeutral 1954–55#14 W 72–68Away1955–56#18 W 72–70Away1957–58#16 W 77–74 OTNeutral 1960–61#2 W 87–77Away1966–67#9 W 77–76Home1969–70#6 #7 W 69–68W 79–69NeutralNeutral1970–71#9 DrakeW 87–77Neutral 1984–85#4 St.JohnsW 62–59Home

Retired jerseys Niagara has retired nine jerseys. Niagara Purple Eagles retired numbers No.PlayerCareer 3 Boo Ellis 1955–1958 3 Phil Scaffidi 1975–1980 4 Al Butler 1958–1961 11 Tom Birch 1948–1951 19 Zeke Sinicola 1948–1951 21 James Moran 1948–1951 23 Calvin Murphy 1967–1970 69 Larry Costello 1951–1954 70 Ed Fleming 1951–1955

Head coaches Name Years Seasons Wins Losses Pct Greg Paulus*2019–present420300.400Patrick Beilein* 2019* N/A N/A N/A N/AChris Casey 2013–2019 6 64 129 0.332Joe Mihalich 1998–2013 15265 203 0.566Jack Armstrong 1989–1998 9 100 154 0.394 Andy Walker 1985–1989 4 59 58 0.504 Pete Lonergan 1980–1985 5 67 73 0.479 Dan Raskin 1976–1980 4 44 61 0.419 Frank Layden 1968–1976 8 119 97 0.551 James Maloney 1965–1968 3 35 38 0.479 Taps Gallagher 1946–1965 19 300 172 0.636 Edward T. Flynn 1944–1946 2 18 14 0.562 Taps Gallagher 1931–1943 12 165 89 0.650 William McCarthy1927–1931 4 44 35 0.557Pete Dwyer1923–1927 4 41 30 0.577John Blake1919–1923 4 61 14 0.813 *-Beilein was hired in March 2019 but resigned in October 2019 without having coached a game; Paulus was named interim head coach in his place.

Purple Eagles in the NBA or National leagues

Joe Arlauckas Al Butler T. J. Cline (born 1994), American-Israeli basketball player Larry Costello Boo Ellis Bo Erias Ed Fleming Sam Iorio (born 1998), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League Manny Leaks Juan Mendez Calvin Murphy Zeke Sinicola Joe Smyth Chris Watson (born 1975), American-Israeli basketball player in the Israeli Premier League. In the Niagara University Hall of Fame. Andy Walker

References

External links