ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Quandre Bullock scored 17 points on 6-8 shooting including 4-6 from three as sixth-seeded Niagara nipped No. 11 Siena Basketball 67-65 in the First Round of the Hercules Tires Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Basketball Championships at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
 
Harlan Obioha tallied 15 points on 7-8 shooting for Niagara (16-15) which advances to face third-seeded Marist in the MAAC Quarterfinals Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Braxton Bayless came off the bench to notch 14 points and fellow reserve Yaw Obeng-Mensah added 12 on 5-6 shooting for the Purple Eagles who shot 52%.
 
Michael Eley scored 15 points off the bench for Siena (4-28) which dropped its MAAC Tournament opener for the fourth straight season. Zek Tekin returned from a five-game absence due to injury to add 11 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
 
Meeting for the second time in five days and second year in a row to open the MAAC Tournament, Siena and Niagara played to 15 lead changes and seven ties in a late-night battle which tipped at 11:14 p.m.
 
The Saints led for more than 24 minutes and scored 10 unanswered early to take as much as a seven-point lead at 20-13 midway through the first half. Brendan Coyle capped the stanza with the go-ahead three in the waning seconds to send Siena into the break with momentum up 32-31.
 
In a see-saw second half, the Saints reclaimed as much as a modest five-point advantage at 57-52 with 5:19 remaining. But the Purple Eagles responded with nine unanswered down the stretch to reclaim the lead for good at 61-57 with 2:40 left.
 
Siena would get one final chance after Niagara missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 7.2 seconds to go. Out of timeouts and needing to go the length of the court, the look at a contested game-winning three at 1:11 a.m. was off the mark as the Purple Eagles prevailed in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
 
Coyle, Mason Courtney, and Giovanni Emejuru all scored 10 points apiece as part of a balanced effort for the Saints, who placed five in double figures for the first time since the first month of last season.