Niagara Purple Eagles
Metro Atlantic (22-11, 13-5)
Seed: #16
West Region
RPI: 136
Big Wins:
12/29 vs Holy Cross (67-61), 1/26 at Marist (83-75), 3/5 vs Siena (83-79)
Bad Losses:
11/16 Binghamton (66-74), 12/2 at Buffalo (62-74), 12/28 vs Delaware
(53-71)
Last NCAA
Appearance: 2005, First Round loss to Oklahoma
Coach:
Joe Mihalich (0-1 in 1 NCAA appearance)
Probable
Starters:
Lorenzo Miles,
Senior, Guard, 12.9 ppg, 3.6 apg
Rydell Brooks,
Freshman, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg
Charron Fisher,
Junior, Guard, 21. ppg, 8.1 rpg
Clif Brown,
Senior, Forward, 16.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg
J.R. Duffey,
Senior, Forward, 10.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Key
Roleplayers:
Tyrone Lewis,
Freshman, Guard, 12.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg
Stanley Hodge,
Junior, Guard, 5.0 ppg, 4.1 apg, 3.7 rpg
Why They Can
Surprise:
Niagara and
Coach Joe Mihalich will run and look to score early and often. Five players
average in double figures in the scoring column and all five are dangerous
from beyond the arc. The Purple Eagles will draw the opposing post players
away from the basket and that can be very dangerous.
Charron Fisher,
and his 21.0 points per game, will lead the way. Fisher is a great rebounder
and will get plenty of help on the glass from the second leading scorer on
the team, Clif Brown. Brown leads the team with 9.8 rebounds per contest and
can have some big scoring outputs. Forward J.R. Duffey will not dominate the
glass like Fisher and Brown, but the 6-8 Senior will do the dirty work in
the paint.
Why They Can
Disappoint:
Niagara will
score nearly 76 points per game, but they will also give up 74. The
opposition shoots over 46% from the floor and that is not good. It is
understandable to give up so many points a game, since that is how the
Purple Eagles want to play, but if they keep allowing teams to get easy
buckets, even the explosive Niagara offense will have trouble keeping pace.
There is not a major presence in the paint on the defense end and quality
big men can go on scoring sprees.
Who To
Watch:
Lorenzo Miles
and Stanley Hodge are great distributors and will find their teammates.
Miles is a good scorer as well and will use his senior standing to be the
team leader. Tyrone Lewis has developed into a great spark off the bench.
The freshman is building off of a career-high 24 points in the conference
tournament final and hopes to continue the madness. At 6-0, Lewis will
hustle to the glass and is one of the best offensive rebounding guards
around.
Joel’s
Bracket Says: First Round loss to Kansas
