LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - Despite a furocious comeback that saw the Purple Eagles erase a 19-point deficit and take the lead with 27 seconds remaining, the Niagara win streak came to an end at Rider on Wednesday, 90-87.

Niagara took the lead on a tip in by junior Demetrius Williamson (Chicago, Ill.) with 27 seconds remaining. The 87-86 advantage gave NU its first lead since 9-8, four minutes into the game.

On the ensuing possession, Rider's Harris Mansell connected on a three-pointer with 6.0 seconds left to give the Broncs an 89-87 lead. The Purple Eagles pressured the ball in the half court, almost forcing a turnover on the sideline, but the Rider guards scrambled and found the open Mansell in the corner for the game winner.

"I'm proud of the comeback that our guys had (Wednesday)," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. "But that doesn't take away from our disappointment in the way that we played in the first half."

The Broncs shot 65.5 percent from the floor in the opening stanza, taking a 50-38 lead into the locker room. Rider shot 7-for-11 from three-point range and led by 19 with 5:10 remaining in the half.

The Purple Eagles turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, and cut the Bronc lead to five on two seperate occassions, but a quick offensive flurry gave Rider an 84-74 lead with 3:21 remaining in the contest.

Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) then brought Niagara back into it with 10-straight points. The junior guard connected on a pair of free throws with 3:08 remaining, then sandwiched a driving lay-up between a pair of contested three-pointers. Mansell connected on a jumper before Lewis' last triple, making the score 86-84 with 1:52 left.

Williamson made one of two from the free throw line with under a minute to go to cut the lead to one and after a defensive stop, the junior gathered a lose ball under the Niagara basket and flipped it in for the 87-86 lead.

Lewis earned his first double-double of the season with 24 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. The 5-foot-11 guard added four steals, giving him 79 on the season, a new Niagara single-season record.

Bilal Benn (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 22 points and seven rebounds, making four of five three pointers on the night. Sophomore point guard Anthony Nelson (Plainfield, N.J.) added a season-high 11 assists without recording a turnover. Benson Egemonye (Benin City, Nigeria) scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

The loss snaps a seven-game win streak for the Purple Eagles, their longest of the season.

The team will host its BracketBuster game against Illinois State on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN2. Fans who attend the game will receive a free white t-shirt, and are encouraged to arrive early.