LAWRENCEVILLE , N.J. – The Niagara Purple Eagles nearly erased a 10-point deficit with three minutes remaining before falling to the Rider Broncs, 85-83, on Thursday.

For the seventh time in the last 11 meetings, the final margin between Niagara (4-10, 1-2 MAAC) and Rider (7-5, 3-0 MAAC) was less than four points.

Trailing 70-60 with 2:59 left, the Purple Eagles went on a scoring outburst to create late-game drama that would last until the final seconds. Antoine Mason, the nation's leading scorer, drained a 3-pointer on the next possession to begin a stretch where he scored 14 straight points for Niagara to bring the Purple Eagles to 78-74 with 40 seconds left.  A pair of free throws by Rider put the Broncs up by seven, but Niagara responded with a triple by Marvin Jordan as NU trailed 81-77 with 25 seconds left. 

The Purple Eagles trailed 83-79 with 17 seconds remaining when Rider's Zedric Sadler missed both free throws to give Niagara a chance. On the ensuing possession, Jordan nailed a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to cut the lead to 83-82. Rider's Sadler went back to the charity stripe where he connected on two free throws with five seconds left. Rider, then, fouled Wesley Myers once he crossed halfcourt. Myers made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second; however NU was unable to corral the rebound as time expired.

"I thought we made a good run down at the end of the game and showed a lot of fight," head coach Chris Casey said. "We will build from this moving on to our next conference games."

The Purple Eagles, who trailed 38-31 at halftime, tied the game at 54-54 on a Marcus Ware layup with 8:55 remaining. However, Rider would go on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes.

NU, which outscored Rider 48-26 in the paint, had three Purple Eagles in double figures. Mason led the game with 31 points, his ninth 30-plus scoring output of the season, with 23 coming in the second half. Joe Thomas collected his first career double-double with a season-high 13 points and career-best 11 rebounds to go along with a game-high three blocks. Jordan finished with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, and five assists.

Niagara will play at Iona on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WGR 550 AM and Purple Eagles All-Access.