SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara is 6-8 and 5-7 in MAAC play, and are led by Preseason All-MAAC First Teamer Marcus Hammond, who is leading the Purple Eagles in scoring and rebounding. Kobi Nwandu also scores in doubles for NU, who have dropped three of their last four games.

NIAGARA HEAD COACH GREG PAULUS
After taking over preseason last year, Duke alum Greg Paulus is in his second season at the helm of the Purple Eagles, and has 18 wins to his credit. 

MONMOUTH ON THE ROAD
The Hawks will surprisingly hit the road for just the second trip this season, having played a weekend set at Siena just after the New Year. MU is 0-2 away from home this season. 

NIAGARA AT HOME
The Purple Eagles are 3-1 at home this season, with a sweep of Fairfield and a split with Rider on their ledger. NU has not played at home since January 9th, and will play three of their remaining four MAAC weekends at the Gallagher Center.

SERIES NOTES 
-Monmouth snapped a three-game Niagara win streak in the series with a win in the 2019 MAAC Tournament opening round.
-MU won the first nine games as a conference foe.
-Monmouth is 2-0 vs. Niagara in MAAC Tournaments.
-MU has dropped three straight at the Gallagher Center after winning the first four there after joining the MAAC.

 

THANK YOU, DR. MARILYN MCNEIL! 
In an announcement made last Wednesday, Monmouth University Vice President and Director of Athletics Dr. Marilyn McNeil announced that she will retire from her 53-year career in collegiate athletics on June 30, 2021. During that time McNeil has been a collegiate athlete, coached at the collegiate level, served has an administrator and has spent the last 28 years as Monmouth's Director of Athletics. During her tenure, the Hawks have won 119 regular season conference championships while making 38 team appearances in various NCAA Tournaments. The Hawks have claimed 11 overall commissioner's cups in the Northeast Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and have finished lower than second just once (third in 1998-99) during her time in West Long Branch. On a national scale, McNeil's contributions to Title IX cannot be understated. The Hawks have added seven sports during McNeil's tenure, five of which have added collegiate opportunities for women.

MAAC WEEKEND UPDATE 
Through five full weekends of MAAC play, Monmouth has picked up three sweeps and won the opening game four times in five tries. The Blue and White have only dropped a pair of games once, doing so just after the New Year at preseason favorite Siena. 

LOOKING FOR FIVE IN A ROW
With a win tonight, Monmouth would win its fifth in a row for the first time since the program record 17-game winning streak that concluded the regular season and continued into the MAAC Tournament in 2017. The Hawks carry a four-game winning streak into this contest, the sixth four-game winning streak MU has had in the last two seasons.

DEION NARROWING DOWN TO THE THREE-POINT RECORD
Deion Hammond enters this game with 254 made threes, putting him in third place all-time and three shy of Justin Robinson's 257 in second place. Waiting for Hammond after that is Dave Calloway's program mark of 260 makes, a number the current Hawk guard is six triples shy of tying. Hammond is already the runaway program leader in threes attempted despite being just 11 games into his senior season with 698, and in two more attempts will be the first Hawk to attempt 700 career triples.

MELIK MARTIN TEARING IT UP
Melik Martin posted career-highs of 23 points, eight rebounds, eight made field goals and three triples in the 1/15 win over Quinnipiac, continuing a strong stretch for the senior. In the last four games, he has scored in double figures three times, and is averaging 15 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and is shooting 57.1% from the field. Martin has made a whopping 24 field goals in the last three contests, including five triples. 

HAWKS, PAPAS LIST ATOP NATIONAL THREE-POINT RANKINGS
Monmouth is ninth in the country in three-point percentage at 40%, having made 95 of 235 attempts. This is the best mark in the MAAC, and sits behind two undefeated teams (Drake, Baylor). There are only nine schools nationally shooting 40% or better from beyond the arc. Individually, George Papas is 10th in the country in three-point shooting at 48.4%, shooting 31-64 from deep. His numbers also lead the MAAC, and he is one of just eight players in the top 10 to have played in more than six games. Papas' 31 makes are also 55th in the country and tops in the MAAC, and he is one of 10 players nationally to make 9 or more threes in a game, doing so on opening night against Hofstra. Two players have made 10 in a game, with eight others tying Papas' nine.

WHAT. A. COMEBACK.
Monmouth came back to force overtime and eventually win in the extra session against all odds on 1/15 vs. Quinnipiac. Monmouth trailed by 12 in the second half, by nine with four minutes to play, and by eight with 90 seconds left. MU also was down by four with 12 seconds to go and QU shooting one-and-one, which they missed. A Martin three, a split pair of Bobcat free throws, and a McClary baseline jumper sent the game to OT, capping the furious comeback.

ICE IN HIS VEINS
Marcus McClary hit arguably the two biggest shots in the 1/15 win over Quinnipiac. The senior knocked down a baseline jumper with 0.6 seconds left to cap a monster comeback, and then drilled a three in OT to essentially ice the game for the Blue and White.

THE SENIORS VS. QUINNIPIAC
In the 1/15 win over Quinnipiac, the four Monmouth seniors all went into double figures, the first time the group has done that in the same game. The four combined for 71 of MU's 92 points, 23 rebounds, 10 assists, six blocks and nine steals. The group made 20 field goals and 23 free throws, and all played over 26 minutes with three playing more than 32 minutes.

1,000 WINS AS A PROGRAM
Monmouth won it's 1,000th game as a program on Sunday, 1/10 against Marist, 72-62. The milestone win came in the programs 65th season dating back to 1956, when the Hawks debuted with a 51-47 win over Jersey City State behind 17 points from Jack Perri on 12/1/56 at the Long Branch YMCA. In that time, remarkably, the program has had just five full-time head coaches and all coached at least 10 seasons for the Blue and White. This excludes longtime Monmouth assistant Ron Krayl, a 35-year MU assistant, who won seven games as the interim head coach in 1986-87.