POUGHKEEPSIE — The Niagara Purple Eagles were edged by the Marist Red Foxes, 72-66, in their MAAC opener on Friday night.
In a game that featured nine lead changes and four ties, it was the Red Foxes who came out with a narrow win in the final seconds.
Niagara trailed 66-64 when Marist’s Ryan Funk made a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left in the game. A pair of free throws by Kahlil Dukes on Niagara’s next possession cut the lead to 69-66, but Marist made 3 of 4 free throws in the last 12 seconds to seal the win.
The Red Foxes had their largest lead of the game, 27-17, with five minutes left in the first half and went into halftime up 33-28. Niagara opened the second half on a 10-4 run which was capped by a 3-pointer by Dukes to put NU back in front, 38-37. Niagara led 40-39 at the 15-minute mark, after a James Towns’ steal and dunk, but the Red Foxes answered with a 9-0 run in a three-minute span.
Trailing 55-47 with 8:12 remaining, the duo of Matt Scott and Dukes combined for a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to one point with six minutes left. The rest of the game was played in a six-point window, however the Purple Eagles never regained the lead.
The Purple Eagles continue their conference opening weekend at Iona on Sunday for a 4 p.m. tipoff. The game will air live on ESPN3 and the radio broadcast will be on AM 1400 WWWS and PurpleEagles.com.
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