ALBANY, N.Y. - Tyrone Lewis would not let his Purple Eagle teammates go home. The junior guard banked in a desperation 30-footer at the end of regulation to send the MAAC Semifinal against Rider into overtime. That shot was just one of many heroic plays in Niagara's 93-89 double-overtime victory, sending the Purple Eagles into Monday's MAAC Championship game.

Bilal Benn (Philadelphia, Pa.) made the defensive play of the game, taking the ball right from Rider's Ryan Thompson with 1.7 seconds remaining in the second extra session, ending the Bronc's final comeback attempt.

"Clearly, this was one for the ages," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said after the thiller. "It's not surprising that it was that competitive. There were a lot of heroes in that locker room today. We found a way to win, because that's what winning teams do."

Niagara led by four with under five minutes left in regulation, but the Broncs staged one of many comebacks. Thompson led the charge as Rider took a 69-66 lead from the free throw line with 40 seconds left.

The Purple Eagles had a few open looks to tie the contest, but all came up short. After a timeout, Benson Egemonye (Benin City, Nigeria) connected on a 10-foot jumper to cut the Rider lead to one. Rider's Novar Gadson got free on the inbounds play and had a wide-open dunk to put the lead back at three. After a few misses from behind the arc, Niagara called its final timeout, setting up the Lewis shot.

Anthony Nelson (Plainfield, N.J.) inbounded the ball to Lewis, who avoided Harris Mansell's intentional attempt to foul and prevent the three-point attempt. Standing about 30 feet away, Lewis let the shot go, sending his teammates into overtime.

"Anthony just told me to try and get open," Lewis said. "He said 'They are gonna try and foul you, just get open and I'll find you.' I just didn't want to let my team go home."

Benn finished the game with 20 points and a career-high 19 rebounds in the win, and his lone steal, his 79th of the season, was one of the biggest plays of the season. Nelson spear-headed the offensive attack with a career-best 21 points, including nine free throws. His biggest pair of freebies came with 25 seconds left in the game, giving NU a 90-87 lead. He committed just one turnover in 46 minutes of action.

Egemonye scored a team-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting while pulling in 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Lewis finished with 14 points on 3-of-21 shooting. He added eight rebounds in the win.

The victory, Niagara's 26th of the season, sets up a MAAC final showdown with top-seeded Siena on Monday. The game will air live at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.