Box Score NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Niagara defeated Saint Peter's 78-61 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball action on Saturday.
With the loss, the Peacocks will be the No. 10 seed in the MAAC Tournament and will face the No. 7 seed on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in Springfield, Mass. Saint Peter's will battle either Manhattan or Fairfield in the tilt. If Manhattan wins or Fairfield losses, Fairfield will be the opponent while the only way the Jaspers end up playing the Peacocks is if they lose to Loyola and the Stags beat Marist on Sunday.
Yvon Raymond (Maplewood, N.J./Nia Prep) paced the Peacocks (9-20, 3-15 MAAC) with 17 points while Darius Conley added with 12 points in the loss.
Antoine Mason and T.J. Cline each had 14 points for the Purple Eagles (18-12, 13-5 MAAC) while Marvin Jordan and Juan'ya Green each had 12 points. Green also dished out nine assists in the winning effort.
The game was a close in the first half before Niagara used the aid of the 3-pointer to pull away in the second half and to earn the MAAC regular season crown.
With the game tied at 26, Ameen Tanksley nailed a 3-pointer at 2:07 to restore the edge for Niagara at 29-26. After Karee Ferguson (Willingboro, N.J./Lincoln Trail) converted two free throws to make it a one-point game with 1:26 left in the half, Cline drained a triple in the waning seconds of the half to send the Purple Eagles into the intermission with a four-point edge.
Niagara started the second half with the first three points thanks to a layup by Devon White at 19:26 and a free throw by Tahjere McCall at 18:10 to take a 35-28 advantage.
Raymond and Conley answered for the Peacocks with consecutive baskets in the paint at 17:46 and 15:39 to trim the margin to 35-32.
Powered by the long ball, Niagara went on a 27-7 run to take a 62-39 lead with 8:40 on the clock. The spurt was started by four 3-pointers while Cline paced the run with eight points and Jordan added a pair of treys in the seven minute stretch and Saint Peter's could get no closer the rest of the way.
Niagara jumped out to the lead in the first half and despite several attempts by the Peacocks to take the advantage the Purple Eagles went into the locker room with a 32-28 lead.
With the score tied at 2, Niagara went on a 17-7 run to grab a 19-9 lead with 12:29 left in the first half. Mason paced the spurt with five points.
The Peacocks answered with a 17-7 run of its own to tie the game at 26 with 2:32 left in the stanza. Washington had five points in the run before Chazz Patterson (Browns Mill, N.J./Trenton Catholic) had a nice reverse layup with 2:32 on the clock to knot the game at 26.
After Patterson tied the game, the Purple Eagles closed the half on a 6-2 run and then pulled away in the second half.
Conley moved into fourth place on the program's all-time career games started list with 110 and will tie the all-time mark for games played with his next participation.
Saint Peter's returns to action on Friday at MAAC Tournament at 7:30 p.m. The Peacocks will find out their opponent after play is competed on Sunday.
