2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by second-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 9–11, 7–9 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated No. 4 seed Marist in the quarterfinals, but lost to No. 9 seed Iona 64–70 in the semifinals.

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
ConferenceMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record9–11 (7–9 MAAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Bryan Smothers
  • Brett Ervin
  • Kevin Devitt
Home arenaGallagher Center
Seasons
2020–21 MAAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Siena 12 4   .750 12 5   .706
Monmouth 12 6   .667 12 8   .600
Saint Peter's 10 8   .556 14 11   .560
Marist 10 8   .556 12 9   .571
Niagara 7 9   .438 9 11   .450
Canisius 7 5   .583 7 6   .538
Fairfield 7 11   .389 10 17   .370
Quinnipiac 7 10   .412 9 13   .409
Iona 6 3   .667 12 6   .667
Manhattan 6 12   .333 7 13   .350
Rider 5 13   .278 6 17   .261
Note: The MAAC has ordered standings based on league wins, not winning percentage, since all teams did not reach 20 conference games played. These standings were also used for seeding purposes in the 2021 MAAC tournament.[1][2]
2021 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

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The Purple Eagles finished the 2019–20 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.[3] Before they could face #3 seeded Rider in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Roster

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2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Justin Roberts 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 189 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Toledo Lawrence, Kansas
F 1 Kobi Nwandu 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Le Moyne York, Pennsylvania
G 4 Tahjae Hill 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Hilton High School Hilton, New York
G 10 Marcus Hammond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Cardozo High School Queens, New York
G 11 Raheem Solomon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Sacred Heart High School Hartford, Connecticut
G 12 Shandon Brown 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr George Washington Boston, Massachusetts
F 13 Touba Traore 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Massanutten Military Academy Bamako, Mali
F 15 Greg Kuakumensah 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Cushing Academy Worcester, Massachusetts
F 20 Jordan Cintron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Longwood The Bronx, New York
G/F 22 Nick MacDonald 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So St. Thomas More School Amherst, New York
G 24 Trey Syroka 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So Whitmer High School Toledo, Ohio
F 32 Will Engelhardt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Kimball Union Academy Syracuse, New York
G 33 Steven Levnaic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So RISE Centre Academy Hamilton, Ontario
F 34 Nicholas Kratholm 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Miami Dade College Louisville, Kentucky
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster
Last update: January 15, 2021

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
December 3, 2020*
8:00 pm, ACCRSN
at Syracuse L 45–75  0–1
Carrier Dome 
Syracuse, NY
December 11, 2020
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Saint Peter's L 54–70  0–2
(0–1)
John J. Moore Athletics Center 
Jersey City, NJ
December 12, 2020
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Saint Peter's L 49–53  0–3
(0–2)
John J. Moore Athletics Center 
Jersey City, NJ
December 18, 2020
4:00 pm, ESPN3
Fairfield W 68–51  1–3
(1–2)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
December 19, 2020
4:00 pm, ESPN3
Fairfield W 81–61  2–3
(2–2)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
December 22, 2020*
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Albany W 70–65  3–3
SEFCU Arena 
Albany, NY
January 1, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Marist L 61–63  3–4
(2–3)
McCann Arena 
Poughkeepsie, NY
January 2, 2021
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Marist W 86–72  4–4
(3–3)
McCann Arena 
Poughkeepsie, NY
January 8, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Rider L 70–76  4–5
(3–4)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
January 9, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN3
Rider W 66–55  5–5
(4–4)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
January 15, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN3
at Manhattan L 49–58  5–6
(4–5)
Draddy Gymnasium 
Riverdale, NY
January 16, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at Manhattan L 55–58  5–7
(4–6)
Draddy Gymnasium 
Riverdale, NY
January 22, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN3
at Quinnipiac W 59–56  6–7
(5–6)
People's United Center 
Hamden, CT
January 23, 2021
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at Quinnipiac L 69–78  6–8
(5–7)
People's United Center 
Hamden, CT
January 29, 2021
4:00 pm
Monmouth L 67–77  6–9
(5–8)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
January 30, 2021
4:00 pm
Monmouth W 83–74  7–9
(6–8)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
February 20, 2021
12:00 pm, ESPN+
Siena W 64–62  8–9
(7–8)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
February 21, 2021
12:00 pm, ESPN3
Siena L 66–68  8–10
(7–9)
Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
February 26, 2021
Canisius Canceled due to COVID-19 issues Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
February 27, 2021
Canisius Canceled due to COVID-19 issues Gallagher Center 
Lewiston, NY
MAAC tournament
March 11, 2021
7:30 pm, ESPN+
(5) vs. (4) Marist
Quarterfinals
W 67–62  9–10
Boardwalk Hall 
Atlantic City, NJ
March 12, 2021
5:30 pm, ESPNews
(5) vs. (9) Iona
Semifinals
L 64–70  9–11
Boardwalk Hall 
Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Sources[5]

References

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  1. ^ "2020-21 Basketball Tiebreakers" (PDF). MAAC Sports. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Standings". MAAC Sports. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  3. ^ "Manhattan, Iona and Niagara Advance to Men's Quarterfinals". Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. March 10, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament 2020 canceled due to coronavirus concerns". Poughkeepsie Journal. March 12, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Niagara University Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2021.