Question Rider/Niagra

some of the reason the Fairfield line is so high

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Niagara heads to Rider

What happened in January stays in January.

The Niagara Purple Eagles stumbled through the first 30 days the new year, losing seven of nine games to fall as far as seventh place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They turned the page on a humbling month one day early, winning at Loyola last Sunday, and then tipped off February with a 66-54 home win over Canisius on Friday.

“Hopefully we take these two wins and how we played last week (in an overtime loss) at Canisius and build off it,” Niagara point guard Anthony Nelson said.

Coach Joe Mihalich’s squad has long been fond of February, having won 21 of its last 25 games in the month before madness, dating back to 2007.

Niagara (13-12, 6-7) will look to continue building momentum toward the postseason — and avenge one of its most heartbreaking losses from last month — when it visits Rider (13-12, 6-7) tonight.

The winner of tonight’s game will gain sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings, and insulate insulate itself somewhat from the possibility of playing in the preliminary round of next month’s MAAC tournament.

Rider beat Niagara 62-61 at the Gallagher Center on Jan. 24, coming back from a 10-poing halftime deficit and winning on Novar Gadsen’s putback basket with five seconds remaining.

“We owe them one,” Niagara’s Tyrone Lewis said Friday.

That was the start of a modest three-game win streak for Rider, which also struggled at the start of January. But the Broncs took a step back on Friday with a home loss to Loyola.

The Purple Eagles only February loss a year ago came in a visit to Rider. The two teams met again in the semifinal round of the MAAC tournament, playing two overtime sessions before Niagara prevailed.

In the preseason coaches poll, Niagara was picked to finish second in the MAAC, and Rider was slotted third. Broncs coach Tommy Dempsey even gave his team a first-place vote.