NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles erased another double-digit second half deficit only to fall on a buzzer-beating layup to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 74-72, on Saturday at the Gallagher Center.

The Purple Eagles, who trailed 39-29 at halftime, rallied in the second half to take a 70-67 lead with 2:39 remaining. However, St. Bonaventure's Charlon Kloof went coast-to-coast in five seconds as his layup beat the arms of Niagara defenders and the clock to snap Niagara's two-game winning streak.

"It was a terrific college basketball game and both teams played extremely hard," head coach Chris Casey said. "Our guys stayed together when we got into a little rut and came back. I thought the difference of the game was on the offensive glass."

Niagara, which was outrebounded 20-7 on the offensive boards, found itself having to dig out of another hole after trailing by 12 points in the first half. The Purple Eagles (3-9) took a 19-15 lead on a Wesley Myers's 3-pointer with 11 minutes left in the first half, but the Bonnies (8-4) went on a 24-8 run over the next 10 minutes en route to their largest lead, 39-27.

In the second half, NU gradually trimmed the lead mostly behind the scoring effort of co-captains Antoine Mason and Marvin Jordan, who combined for 44 points in the game and 28 in the second half. Jordan electrified the Gallagher Center by sinking three-straight 3-pointers to cut the lead to 42-40 with 17:26 remaining.

When Bona built a 59-51 lead with 10 minutes on the clock, Mason would score eight of Niagara's 12 points as the Purple Eagles edged back in front, 63-62, with 6:16 left. Niagara led 70-67 when Bona's Andell Cumberbatch tied the game on a 3-pointer at the 2:10 mark. On the en suing possession, Mason was fouled on a drive to the basket and he drained both free throws to put Niagara up 72-70.

Bona answered on its next possession with a layup by Dion Wright to tie the game at 72-72. Both teams exchanged a pair of empty possessions as Niagara had the ball with 30 seconds left.

The Purple Eagles held the ball as the shot clock was expiring, but Mason missed his 3-pointer. On the en suing inbound, Kloof went end-to-end as his layup extended the Bonnies' win streak to three in the series.

"They set a long screen and we were back in support. It looked like we got split off the dribble to the glass and we needed to close the driving lane," Casey said on the last play. 

Mason, the nation leading scorer, led all scorers with 24 points, 18 in the second half. Jordan was second with a season-high 20 points and five triples. Sophomore Tahjere McCall had a game- and season-high six assists.

The Purple Eagles are back on the court on Sunday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. to face the Brown Bears. The game will air live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel, WWWS 1400 and Purple Eagles All-Access.

For ticket information, contact the Niagara ticket office at 716-286-8499 (TIXX), tickets@PurpleEagles.com and www.PurpleEagles.com/Tickets.