PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Niagara had a chance for a little more momentum heading into the meat of MAAC play. Already 3-1 in early conference games, the Purple Eagles had a chance to get a road win, something they’ve struggled to achieve this season. They looked like they might get it early, and still had a chance.
“I said to the guys going into overtime, this is what we need – a chance to win on the road,” head coach Joe Mihalich said.
Instead, they left Providence with a heart-breaking 75-74 loss in overtime.
Niagara basically started over with a very young team last season and went 14-19. At times they have appeared primed to take a good step forward this season with a sophomore core leading the way in Juan’ya Green, Antoine Mason and Ameen Tanksley. But they might still have some bumps in the road that manifest in the form of Tuesday’s game, as this is still a very young team but a little more experienced.
Green made an instant impact last season, the kind point guards don’t often have. He led the team in scoring and assists and is already getting national recognition as he was named to the 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year watch list last month. Mason leads the MAAC in scoring and Tanksley is a versatile wing who does several things for this team.
This team looks to be on its way to following the winning blueprint from prior years in Mihalich’s tenure. Notably, they press and force a lot of turnovers, which they did a good job of early in Tuesday night’s game as they built a 36-17 lead in the first half. This team’s demons of rebounding and halfcourt basketball (both ends of the floor) showed up later, though, and made it clear some of the areas this team needs to work on if they are to contend in the MAAC.
Brown made its comeback largely from getting second chances. Brown had a 24-17 edge on the glass in the second half en route to a 53-42 advantage for the game. 22 of those rebounds came at the offensive end, and that helped to more than offset 21 Bear turnovers – although Niagara helped there as well since they gave it away 17 times themselves.
In the extra session, turnovers were a killer as they gave the ball away four times. They scored the first three points, then went silent from misses and turnovers. Once Brown took a 69-67 lead, the Purple Eagles turned the ball over three straight times. Fittingly, they allowed Brown to clinch on a turnover by throwing the basketball equivalent of a pick-six in football that put Brown up five in the final seconds.
“When it was time to do the right thing, we didn’t do it,” said Mihalich. “When it was time to make a play, we didn’t do it.”
While defense has been a big part of the recent surge, the Purple Eagles still have room to improve there. Opponents are shooting around 47 percent from the field against them on the season, so when they don’t give the ball away they are often able to score. If there was one bright spot among the areas for improvement on Tuesday, it is in this one as they held Brown to 35.3 percent from the field on the night. But good defense means finishing possessions, and they didn’t do that enough.
Tanksley is the kind of power wing player who has often thrived in the MAAC over the years. The well-built lefty is athletic and skilled enough to be effective on the perimeter but holds his own near the basket as well, as he’s a solid rebounder and a threat to put up a double-double on any night. That he leads in rebounding from the wing is something of an indictment of the frontcourt players as much as it is a testament to how he plays. La Salle transfer Devon White is clearly not in prime shape after missing the first eight games recovering from an off-season Achilles injury and T.J. Cline has promise but is still a freshman at the end of the day.
This is still a young team and the talent base is good. There’s a lot to look forward to with this team given what they have shown up to this point, although Tuesday night is evidence that it won’t be a smooth ride in the foreseeable future. There’s still some work to be done to become a winning team, something Mihalich has had plenty of in his tenure.
“We found a way to lose tonight,” said Mihalich. “Winning teams find a way to win, we found a way to lose.”
