BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Niagara men's basketball team (17-14, 9-9 MAAC) dropped its regular season finale to the Fairfield Stags (20-9, 13-5 MAAC) in overtime on Sunday, 80-74. The Purple Eagles used a furious comeback to force overtime, but shot just 13-for-28 from the free throw line in the game.

"The good thing about (Sunday) was that it was almost a practice for what we are going to see next week," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. "We were playing a good team in a playoff setting, and we almost pulled it off not playing well. But we can't shoot 13-for-28 from the foul line and win."

Trailing 47-40 with 11:28 remaining, the Purple Eagles started their charge with a steal and a dunk by Demetrius Williamson. Back-to-back lay-ups by Scooter Gillette inched NU closer, and three-straight points by Bilal Benn gave NU a 49-47 lead with 9:00 to go.

The two teams traded blows for the remainder of the battle, as the contest saw five more ties and three lead changes, including a four-point cushion for Niagara on a Tyrone Lewis triple with 3:10 remaining. Fairfield's Sean Crawford scored 20 of his game-high 25 points after the break, including a 3-pointer with 1:30 left to give the Stags a 65-62 lead.

Gillette made one of two from the line with 1:21 remaining and Bilal Benn found Rob Garrison for the game-tying lay-up with 35 seconds left to make the scorde 65-65. The Purple Eagle defense clamped down for the final possession to force the extra session.

The Stags never trailed in overtime, as Anthony Johnson went to work in the paint, scoring the first four points of the extra-five. He finished the extra frame with eight points and the contest with 24 markers and a career-high 23 rebounds in the win.

The Purple Eagles cut it to one point on back-to-back possessions late in the overtime, but Fairfield iced the game at the free throw line.

Three Purple Eagles finished with 15 points in the effort. Lewis moved into third place on Niagara's all-time scoring chart, passing former teammate Charron Fisher with his 15 points to eclipse the 1,800 point barrier with 1,808 points.

Benn recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. He added four assists and three steals in the loss. Williamson tallied 15 points off the bench while connecting on three triples. Gillette chipped in with 11 points for the second-straight game.

Niagara earned the sixth seed and will play No. 3 Iona on Saturday at 10 p.m.