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By Dylan Hoosier
Special to Niagara Frontier Publications
The Niagara University men’s basketball team started off its weekend with a win over Fairfield University, Friday night, Feb. 24, at home in the Gallagher Center, moving the Purple Eagles to fifth in the MAAC conference standings.
Capturing this victory over the Fairfield Stags ended a three-game losing streak for the Purple Eagles.
According to Niagara’s head coach, Greg Paulus, this win was pivotal.
“This win was very important to us in terms of getting back to playing Niagara basketball,” Paulus said.
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“Sticking to our principles of staying solid and disciplined, both offensively and defensively, and playing hard for a full 40 minutes of basketball,” senior lead guard Noah Thomasson added.
Thomasson’s contributions to the Purple Eagles have been proven valuable, landing him currently as the MAAC leading scorer with 19.1 points per game.
Friday night, Thomason scored 25 of Niagara’s 76 points in the win over the Stags.
“The point of emphasis to both me and my teammates was to get to the basket and not settle,” Thomasson said. “We’re a team that’s still evolving, were climbing.
“Our goal is just to continue to get better and better as the tournament approaches,” Paulus said.
With the win on Friday, Niagara climbed to fifth in the MAAC rankings.
The MAAC tournament is March 7-11.
“This was a great win for us,” point guard Braxton Bayless said.
Given the tournament being near and the seating close to being announced, Paulus felt this win helped move the Purple Eagles in a positive direction.
“That was our approach all week,” he said. “We know the seating will vary. But for us, our focus is on getting back to us: on both ends of the floor and our style of play.”
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This is a Niagara University student-created piece completed as part of the course CMS 226A. For more information, contact the Niagara Frontier Publications’ managing editor.