NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Senior Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) broke Niagara's career three-point record with 1:00 remaining in the contest, but the Niagara men's basketball team (6-4, 2-0 MAAC) dropped a home rivalry game against Buffalo, 86-80, in front of 2,298 fans at the 'Taps' Gallagher Center on Wednesday evening.

The Purple Eagles fought back from two different double-digit deficits in the game, one with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 33-33 in the first half, and the other to cut the UB lead from 16 to three points with :15 remaining in the game, but the Bulls gutted out the physical victory.

"I'm proud about the fact that we never gave up," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. "There is no quit in this team, and a lot of that has to do with (Tyrone). We clearly need to adjust, and there's no snap of the fingers adjustment to play without Bilal (Benn). It's going to take some time."

Niagara's leading scorer and rebounder, Bilal Benn (Philadelphia, Pa.) missed the first game of his NU career after having a minor procedure done on his knee. He will be out for the short term.

Without Benn's physical style of play, especially on the glass, Niagara was outrebounded 48-34 and allowed the Bulls to shoot 54.4 percent from the floor in the win.

Lewis was the lone bright spot for the Purple Eagles. He entered the game four trifectas away from tying the school record for career three-pointers made, and finished with six triples to steal the record away from his former teammate Lorenzo Miles ('07). Lewis' currently has 222 made three-pointers in his career.

The record breaker came at the 1:00 mark in the second half, on a long triple in front of the NU bench. The contested jumper brought Niagara within four at 76-72. His sixth and final trey of the night came with :15 seconds, cutting the lead to three, but NU would get no closer. Lewis would finish with a season-high 26 points. His three steals inched him within 10 of the school record for steals (216 - Mike Phillips, '82).

UB connected on 18-of-24 free throws, while NU made 18-of-30 in the loss. The Purple Eagle defense forced a season-high 20 turnovers, but allowed a season-high 86 points. Rodney Pierce led Buffalo with 25 points and nine rebounds, while shooting 7-for-12 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the line.

The Purple Eagles return to action on Sunday in the return trip from last year's ESPNU BracketBusters event. Niagara will travel to Illinois State, a team it defeated 70-56 on ESPN2 last season, for a 3 p.m. eastern tip.