ALBANY, N.Y. – The Purple Eagle seniors just would not let their basketball careers come to an end. Niagara’s upperclassmen made clutch play after clutch play down the stretch to advance to the 2010 MAAC Semifinals with a 68-64 win over No. 3 Iona late Saturday night.

“It was a hard-fought, grind-it-out win,” Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We beat a very good team. We have great respect for them, but we are really proud of our guys. Our seniors were the key.”

The victory marks the ninth time in Mihalich’s 12 years that the Purple Eagles will be playing in the semifinals. Sunday evening’s tilt pits the No. 6 Purple Eagles against No. 2 Fairfield at 6:30 p.m.

The four Niagara seniors combined for 55 of the team’s 68 points, but it was the NU intangibles down the stretch that turned a back-and-forth affair into a Purple Eagle victory.

Trailing 54-53 with just under two minutes remaining, Rob Garrison collected an offensive rebound off his own miss, dribbled through traffic and found a waiting Tyrone Lewis all alone. The guard who has a flare for the dramatic in the MAAC Tournament buried the open triple, giving the Purple Eagles the lead for good.

On the very next possession, Lewis, the 5-foot-11 guard, out-jumped Iona’s 6-foot-8 center Alejo Rodriguez to collected his 10th rebound of the night, tying a career high and giving him his first career double-double. He was fouled after the play and connected on the first pair of what would end up being six-straight free throws down the stretch to help seal the win.

Lewis finished with a game-high 21 points to go with his 10 rebounds and was joined in the double-double line by Mr. Double-Double himself, Bilal Benn. The senior forward scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds. Both Second-Team All-MAAC players collected two steals while Lewis added a game-best three blocked shots.

Just one game after shooting a dismal 13-for-28 from the line in an overtime loss at Fairfield, the Purple Eagles were more than efficient at the charity stripe, connecting on 33-of-38 free throws in the win. Lewis and Garrison each went 9-for-9 from the line, while Benn went 6-for-8.

Senior Demetrius Williamson was also perfect at 2-for-2 from the stripe, while pitching in with seven points and five rebounds off the bench. In the previous two contests against Iona, both losses, Williamson did not make a field goal and totaled just two points.

Sophomore Kashief Edwards added six points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.