Published: December 02, 2008 11:52 pm            

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Niagara closes '08 home slate with Akron

With another win tonight, the Niagara Purple Eagles can get to 6-1 for just the second time in 11 seasons under coach Joe Mihalich, having played just three of their first seven games in the Gallagher Center.

And they won’t have the homecourt advantage again until for a month.

The Purple Eagles (5-1) host Akron (4-2) looking to go 2-0 against Mid-American Conference teams for the second straight season. Niagara won at Buffalo last Tuesday, before going to Philadelphia and whacking Monmouth and Hartford by an average margin of 31.5 points.

Niagara begins a six-game road swing Sunday when they open Metro Atlantic Athletic at Loyola. After that they play road games at South Florida (Dec. 14), Drexel (Dec. 18) and St. Bonaventure (Dec. 23) before heading to Tennessee at the end of month to play Murray State and Chattanooga in the Dr. Pepper Classic.

The Purple Eagles have 10 more home games this season — against each of their nine MAAC peers, and a BracketBuster foe to be determined by ESPN prior to the Feb. 21 matchup.

Mihalich has often lamented how difficult it is to schedule non-conference games in the Gallagher Center, where his team has won 19 of its last 21 games.

Tonight’s non-conference home game is the only one scheduled in the traditional home-and-home series fashion.

The home opener against Towson was part of the Philly Hoop Group Classic exempt event, that also included a road game at Villanova — Niagara’s lone loss — and recent back-to-back at the Palestra. Appalachian State’s Nov. 22 visit to the Gallagher Center was a mandated return matchup of last season’s BracketBuster.

Historical rival St. John’s was supposed to play in Niagara this season, but officials from both teams said they could not agree on a suitable date.

The Purple Eagles played extremely well in their last outing, setting a school record with 17 3-pointers, assisting on 28 of their 32 field goals, and beating Hartford, 103-63. It was their highest-scoring outing in three seasons.

The 71-43 win over Monmouth was the first time the Purple Eagles have held a team under 50 points since 2003.



GAME DAY

Niagara (5-1) vs. Akron (4-2)

• WHEN: 7 p.m.

• WHERE: Gallagher Center

• RADIO: 105.1 The River

• TV: TW-13 (airing at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday)

• NOTES: Rob Garrison (Niagara Falls) has led the team in scoring the past two games, averaging 20.5 points ... Reserves Demetrius Williamson and Kashief Edwards totaled 48 points in Niagara’s wins over Monmouth and Hartford. ... The Purple Eagles have started 6-1 only once under Joe Mihalich, in 2003. ... Akron, a strong MAC team over the past few years, has used five different starting lineups in its first six games. They have outscored opponents by an average of 13.5 points.

        

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