NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – A resilient comeback effort pulled the Niagara Purple Eagles back into the game, but the Fairfield Stags were able to maintain the lead down the stretch and eclipse the Purple Eagles, 71-59, on Saturday afternoon's home finale.

The Purple Eagles (7-22, 5-13 MAAC) cut an 18-point second half deficit to five points with under six minutes remaining in the game. Emile Blackman opened the second half with a 3-pointer to trim Fairfield's lead to 35-28. However, a 13-2 Fairfield (17-11, 11-7 MAAC) run over the next 5:56 gave the Stags an 18-point lead with 13:56 left to play; NU later trailed 57-40 with 10 minutes on the clock before mounting a comeback.

Niagara used a 12-0 run, with seven points coming from Cameron Fowler, over the next three minutes to cut the Stags lead to 57-52 with 6:43 left to play. However, the Purple Eagles went scoreless in the following two minutes as the Stags held off the Purple Eagles' rally.

"We have to play better at the beginning of the game," head coach Chris Casey said. "We had a bunch of open looks at the beginning that didn't fall and defensively we didn't do what we needed to do to start the game."

A Dominic Robb layup tied the game at 10-10 6:32 into the first half, but the Stags used a 20-0 over the next six minutes to pull ahead 30-10. Niagara finished the half on a 15-5 run to trail 35-25 at halftime.

Matt Scott led Niagara with 13 points and nine rebounds, Fowler added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Marvin Prochet and Blackman each chipped in 12 points. A pair of Blackman free throws at the 5:40 mark of the first half gave him 1,000 career points.

Before the game, Niagara honored the lone senior on the team, Thomas Fleming. Earning his first career start, Fleming responded with a steal on the game's first possession.

The Purple Eagles are on the road for their final two regular season matchups, starting on Thursday against Canisius at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the women's teams.

The game will air live on ESPN3 and via the Niagara Sports Network on AM 1400 WWWS and PurpleEagles.com/Watch.

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