NIAGARA, NY - Despite a pair of career-high scoring efforts from rookie Tariq Francis and veteran Kjell de Graaf, the NJIT men's basketball team suffered an 89-81 set back to host Niagara in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center.

The Highlanders jumped out to an early lead as de Graaf hit two early three-pointers and threw down a putback dunk to help NJIT go ahead 10-4 less than three minutes into the game.

NJIT led by as many as seven points in the first half and for all but 12 seconds, yet a late Niagara game made the score 39-38 as the teams entered their respective locker rooms for halftime.

Niagara opened up the second half on an 11-2 run to take an eight point lead and led for the duration of the game, leading by as many as 13 at one point.

The Highlanders cut the margin to just five on a pair of occasions with about six minutes to play, but the Purple Eagles answered each time to go back ahead by double-digits.

NJIT struggled to contain Niagara's 7-foot center Harlan Obioha, who finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Purple Eagles won the battle on the boards 37-24. 

Francis scored 20 points in just his 10th collegiate game, while de Graaf tallied 17 in his 101st game over the past six seasons. Mekhi Gray and Elijah Buchanan also scored in double figures for NJIT, scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. 

The Highlanders will break for final exams before returning to the court on Friday when they host Medgar Evers in the Joel and Diane Wellness and Events Center in Newark. Tip-off is slated for 1pm and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.