Springfield, MA (Sports Network) - Antoine Mason made all 10 of his attempts
at the free-throw line en route to 21 points as the top-seeded Niagara Purple
Eagles defeated the ninth-seeded Siena Saints, 74-62, in the quarterfinals of
the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship at the MassMutual Center.
Juan'ya Green tallied 15 points, six assists and five rebounds for Niagara
(19-12), which will take on the winner of the Iona/Canisius matchup in the
semifinals on Sunday.
Evan Hymes and Rob Poole scored 14 points each for Siena (8-24), which also
received one final double-double from O.D. Anosike, who tallied 13 points and
10 rebounds. Anosike, who led the nation in rebounding a season ago, finished
his career with 46 double-doubles.
Siena shot 43.5 percent from the field including 5-of-8 from 3-point range in
the opening 20 minutes, but it also went just 6-of-14 at the free-throw line
before the break. Despite hitting on just 33.3 percent of their field goal
tries, the Purple Eagles took a 32-31 lead into halftime.
Niagara pulled away after the intermission as they converted 12-of-13 at the
charity stripe.
The Saints shot an even 50 percent from the floor, made 9-of-16 from 3-point
range and held a 32-30 edge in the rebounding battle. However, it was not
enough to overcome their 20 turnovers.
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