POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Niagara men's basketball team (13-4, 4-1) has had the magic touch on the road so far this season. However, the final contest in a long stretch of road games didn't go the Purple Eagles way as Marist (7-11, 3-3) started strong and held off Niagara for an 86-68 victory inside the McCann Center on Sunday.

The Purple Eagles, who played eight of their last 10 games on the road, started slow and never recovered. Trying to win their seventh game in that rough stretch proved to be an uphill battle as Niagara shot 19.2 percent in the first half and missed on all 11 of its three-point attempts.

"This was the final game of a tough stretch for us," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. "Playing eight out of our last 10 and 11 out of 14 on the road, and this was the last game of the break. Our guys need to go back home and regroup a little. Marist is a terrific team, they deserve all of the credit, but we've got to go home and lick our wounds a little bit and get ready for the next one. We've had a terrific start, 13-4 after that tough stretch, we're pretty proud of that."

Marist shot 7-of-11 from behind the arc in the opening frame, compared to Niagara's 0-for-11, while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor. The Red Foxes led by as many as 23 in the first half before taking a 42-23 lead into the break.

Junior Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) led four Purple Eagles in double figures with 17 points, making 11-of-12 free throws. Bilal Benn (Philadelphia, Pa.) had his third-straight game with double-digit points and nine rebounds. The junior guard finished with 13 points.

Junior Rob Garrison (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) finished with 12 points while senior Benson Egemonye (Benin City, Nigeria) added 10.

Marist's point guard David Devezin led all scorers with 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

The Purple Eagles return to the Gallagher Center for Purple Pride Weekend as they play host to Iona on Thursday. Fans are encouraged to pack the house and wear purple for the 7 p.m. start.