ALBANY — In the end, the Niagara Purple Eagles weren’t one of the two best teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Niagara’s up-and-down 2009-10 season ended Sunday with a 69-63 loss to Fairfield in the MAAC semifinals.

With their second defeat of Niagara in eight days, the No. 2 seed Stags (22-9) cemented themselves as the top contender to Siena, and will try to dethrone the two-time defending champions tonight at the Times Union Center.

That’s the position the Purple Eagles (18-15) were in a year ago, and with all but one of their key performers back, one they were expected to reclaim. Even after a regular season marred by injuries, inconsistency and interior inadequacies gave them a No. 6 seed in the tournament, the Purple Eagles were still regarded as Siena’s most worthy adversary in this tournament.

Niagara was on its way to a championship game rematch Sunday, leading 58-51 after Bilal Benn made two free throws with 7:16 remaining. For the second night in a row, the Purple Eagles made only one field goal in the final seven minutes of the game, but unlike Saturday’s quarterfinal conquest of Iona, their relentless drives to the basket didn’t produce enough free throws to pull out another win.

The Purple Eagles were clearly frustrated with the number of times they drew contact but no foul call in the game’s deciding minutes, but afterward, Tyrone Lewis refused to put any blame on the officials.

“We’re not refs, we’re basketball players. That’s coach (Joe) Mihalich and his coaching staff’s job to get on the refs about calls,” said Lewis, who had 20 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:28 remaining. “We’ve got some athletic guys that can get to the basket and we’ve got to finish, with or without contact.”

Mihalich said the Purple Eagles got away from their offensive philosophy of “moving the ball and moving people” down the stretch.

First-team all-MAAC center Anthony Johnson overcame first-half foul trouble to finish with 21 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for Fairfield. He scored seven points during the Stags’ deciding 12-1 run, including a putback on a missed free throw that Mihalich called “a backbreaker.”

As has been the case in most of their losses this season, the Purple Eagles shot poorly, making only 37.3 percent of their field goals. They did make 8 of 20 from 3-point range, led by Lewis, who added to his school record with five made 3s.

Anthony Nelson made two 3-pointers as Niagara built a nine-point lead early in the second half. The junior point guard finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Benn had 11 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Kashief Edwards had 11 points and five rebounds.

The sudden end to the Niagara careers of Lewis, Benn and fellow seniors Rob Garrison and Demetrius Williamson stung Mihalich more than the loss.

“It’s hard to talk much about the game,” Mihalich said to open his postgame press conference. “It was an emotional locker room. We had to say goodbye to four special seniors.”

Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, ext. 2258.