The Niagara Purple Eagles and the Quinnipiac Bobcats meet Friday in college basketball action from TD Bank Sports Center. 

Niagara enters this matchup at 5-7 so far. The Eagles have lost consecutive games to Manhattan. As for Quinnipiac, they’re 3-5 this year. The Bobcats have lost three straight to Manhattan and Monmouth. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Niagara began their year on an 0-3 run with losses to Syracuse and Saint Peter’s before notching three straight wins over Fairfield and Albany. The Eagles then split a pair of games with Marist and another pair with Rider. Since then it’s been consecutive losses to Manhattan. 

In the 58-55 loss to the Jaspers last Saturday, Niagara’s Raheem Solomon put up 13 points with one rebound and one assist. Marcus Hammond added 10 points with six rebounds and two assists, and Jordan Cintron chipped in nine points with three boards. 

Over on the Quinnipiac side, they began their year with a win over Fairleigh Dickinson but then fell to Drexel in consecutive games. The Bobcats then got wins over New Hampshire and Manhattan before falling in three straight to Manhattan and Monmouth (twice). 

In last weekend’s 70-63 loss to Monmouth, Quinnipiac’s Jacob Rigoni posted 19 points with eight rebounds and one assist. The trio of Seth Pinkney, Savion Lewis and Luis Kortright each notched 10 points, combining for three assists and 15 rebounds as well. 

Quinnipiac is 4-1 ATS in their last five home games and 1-4 ATS in their last five at home versus a team with a losing record. The under is 8-3 in the Bobcats’ last 11 overall and 4-1 in their last five after a straight-up win. 

Meanwhile, the Eagles are 1-4 ATS in their last five Friday games and 7-2 ATS in their last nine versus a team with a losing straight-up record. Niagara is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games after an ATS loss and the under is 8-2 in their last 10 road games. 

PICK: I’m going to take Quinnipiac. Both of these teams have been struggling this year, and both could use a couple of good wins in this set. The Bobcats haven’t been scoring all that well consistently but they’ve hit 80 o more points in two of their last three outings, and can put up a good total here and there. This one should be close for most of the game but I like Quinnipiac to power out a cover.