Highlights

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Niagara Purple Eagles had their season come to an end on Saturday night with an 89-80 defeat to the third-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in the 2014 MAAC Tournament Quarterfinals.

"A very hard fought game and extremely hard played by both teams and I thought our guys really competed hard," head coach Chris Casey said.  "As you have it in most of these tournament games, it comes down to few a plays and they made a couple of them. I'm proud of the way we fought against a very good team."

Quinnipiac, which trailed for the majority of the first half, led 38-36 at halftime. The Purple Eagles (7-26) went on a 15-4 run to take a 23-13 lead at the 10:54 mark. Quinnipiac (20-10) answered with a 15-5 run to tie the game at 28-28 with 4:10 left and eventually led 36-31 before Niagara reeled off five straight points to even the score at 36-36 with 20 seconds left.

The Bobcats began to pull away midway through the second half. A Marvin Jordan 3-pointer brought Niagara to 50-49 with 15:13 remaining before Quinnipiac went on a 24-10 spurt en route to its biggest lead, 74-58, with 6:43 left.

However, the Purple Eagles did not go away quietly as they responded with a 15-5 run to cut the lead to 79-74 with 2:20 remaining. Niagara had a chance to trim the margin on its next possession, but Antoine Mason, the nation's leader in free throws, missed a pair and Quinnipiac would convert a three-point play on its next possession. NU trailed 84-78 after Jordan missed two 3-pointers with less than 36 seconds left.

Mason finished with a game-high 28 points, and grabbed five rebounds. Mason ends his junior campaign averaging 25.6, which is second best in the nation and his 846 total points are third most in a single season at Niagara. Mason's nation-best 260 free throws are a Niagara and MAAC single-season record while also ranking 26th most all-time in the NCAA.

Jordan scored 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including three 3-pointers, in his final collegiate game to finish with 274 in his career for second most at Niagara. Wesley Myers was the other Purple Eagle in double figures with 14 points.