Rider vs. Niagara
Free Pick: Niagara -1.5 (-110 odds)
Mon February 8th 2010 7:00p
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The Niagara Purple Eagles have been a huge disappointment this season, but they are now fully healthy and after winning their last two games, we look for them to continue a late-season run when they visit the Rider Broncs in Lawrenceville tonight.

Niagara was expected to compete for the MAAC title as usual at the start of the year, but they have gone just 13-12 overall and they are still under .500 at 6-7 inside the conference. However, the Eagles are a different team when they are fully healthy, which they are now for the first time in a while, and they are showing positive signs, winning their last two games including a nice victory on the road at Loyola-Maryland.

That is the same Loyola team that the Broncs lost to here at home on Friday, and the Broncs have been burning a lot of money as of late, going just 2-5 against the spread in their last seven games. They have also done a poor job in general of protecting their home court, going only 5-4 straight up and a terrible 1-6 ATS in their lines home games while actually getting slightly outscored by an average of -1.0 points per game vs. Division I home foes.

Niagara is also ranked considerably higher than Rider in the Pomeroy Ratings despite their disappointing record, as they rank 149 compared to 210 for the Broncs. The Purple Eagles should also be able to score more than usual here vs. a poor Rider defense that ranks a terrible 270 in the country in two-point defense, generously allowing a 50.3 percent success rate.

Finally, a fully healthy is simply the better team here, and the fact that the Broncs have had basically no home court advantage makes us like the Purple Eagles even more.

CBB Free Pick: Niagara -1.5 (-110)

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