ALBANY, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles were unable to overcome an early first half deficit in a 79-69 defeat to the Siena Saints on Thursday night at the Times Union Center.

After trailing by 20 points in the first half, Niagara (3-10, 2-3 MAAC) cut Siena's lead to four points twice in the second half before succumbing to the host.

"That was the game," head coach Chris Casey said about slow start.  "I thought we recovered from it some in the second half and we cut it to four (points) twice. Our guys kept fighting, but we can't start a game like that especially against a good team."

Niagara fell in an early hole as the Saints (6-8, 3-2 MAAC) led 21-1, including a 19-0 start, through the opening six-plus minutes of the game. The Purple Eagles did manage to outscore Siena, 17-6, over the next nine minutes to cut the lead to 27-18 with 5:15 left in the half. However after going nearly four minutes without scoring, the Saints answered with a 10-1 to take a 37-19 lead. Siena went into halftime leading 39-22.

The Purple Eagles gradually chipped away at the lead, outscoring the Saints 25-12 through the opening nine minutes of the second half, to cut the lead to 51-47. A triple by Karonn Davis brought NU within four points, 56-52, with 9:41 left, but Siena responded with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes. The four-point deficit was the closet NU would get as the Purple Eagles dropped their first road MAAC game of the season.

Niagara, which shot 22 percent from the field in the first half, improved in the second half by going 15-for-32 (46.9 percent) from the field.

Wesley Myers shared game-high honors with a career-high 21 points with 18 coming in the second half. Emile Blackman added 11 points and Ramone Snowden chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.

The Purple Eagles continue their road swing on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. as they look to sweep the regular season series with the Manhattan Jaspers.