2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	9–11 (7–9 MAAC)
Head coach	Greg Paulus (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Bryan Smothers; Brett Ervin; Kevin Devitt;
Home arena	Gallagher Center
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 MAAC men's basketball standings
v t e	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

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.

Previous season

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

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

Greg Paulus (Duke)

Assistant coach(es)

Bryan Smothers (Wayne State)
Brett Ervin (West Virginia Wesleyan)
Kevin Devitt (DePaul)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 15, 2021

Schedule and results

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

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

[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.

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v t e Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Niagara Falls Convention and Civic Center (1973–1982 full-time, part-time 1988–1996) Gallagher Center (1949–1973, 1982–present)
Rivalries	Canisius
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25