2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
2023–24 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	16–16 (11–9 MAAC)
Head coach	Greg Paulus (5th season);
Associate head coach	Kevin Devitt
Assistant coaches	Tyler Kelly; Chris Buchanan; Austin Kelley;
Home arena	Gallagher Center
	Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

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.

2023–24 MAAC men's basketball standings
v t e	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

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

Greg Paulus (Duke)

Assistant coach(es)

Kevin Devitt (DePaul)
Tyler Kelly (Florida Southern)
Chris Buchanan (Peninsula)
Austin Kelley (St. Bonaventure)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

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

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

[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.

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