ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Matt Scott scored 19 points, Kahlil Dukes added 18 and Niagara beat Quinnipiac 88-69 in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday night.

No. 9 seed Niagara (10-22) moves on to face top-seeded Monmouth in a quarterfinal of Friday. Eighth-seeded Quinnipiac (10-21) has lost seven straight.

Scott was 8 of 14 from the field and Dukes made 11 of 12 free throws. Chris Barton had 15 points, on 5-of-6 shooting, and James Towns scored in 14 for the Purple Eagles, who shot 84 percent (26 of 31) from the line. Maurice Taylor Jr. grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and chipped in eight points.

Peter Kiss scored 15 points and Daniel Harris 14 for Quinnipiac.

Niagara took the lead for good three minutes into the second half, and led 56-53 with 9:18 left before using a 12-0 run to pull away. Towns hit two 3-pointers and scored 10 points during the stretch.

Quinnipiac beat Niagara in both regular season games.

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