College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, January 25, 2013
Unsure whether there are any purple eagles living in the wild, but one thing's for sure, the Sienna Saints surely don't want to see any more emblazoned on the uniforms of Niagara players.
For the second time in eight days, the Purple Eagles tore up the Saints, winning by sharing the ball (18 assists) and forcing 12 turnovers in a 79-68 victory, the fifth straight for the top team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
And, if the Saints could choose one player to never see again, it would have to be Juan'ya Green, who fell just short of a triple-double, with 19 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Green wasn't all that accurate from the field, going 6-for-17, but he made up for it on the line, making six of six. His rebounding and assist totals were also career highs (the assist number equaling his output in a win at Canisius last season).
The 12-8 Purple Eagles are 8-1 in conference games, clutching a one-game lead over 7-2 Iona and Loyola (MD). They face those two main rivals in back-to-back home games January 31 and February 2.