LEWISTON — A week ago Sunday, the Niagara men’s basketball team was riding a three-game winning streak and one the verge of rising above .500 in league play. The Purple Eagles held a seven-point lead with two minutes left on the road at Manhattan, one of the top teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

“And we kicked one away,” coach Joe Mihalich said.

Even Manhattan coach Steve Masiello is quick to admit, “we didn’t deserve to win that game.”

The Purple Eagles came home to lick their wounds.

And then on a weekend when the program honored past greats Calvin Murphy, Phil Scaffidi and Eva Cunningham, the young Purple Eagles reverted back to the struggling team from earlier this season.

Sunday’s 87-70 loss to Manhattan in front of 1,625 fans at the Gallagher Center followed Friday’s 69-57 setback against Loyola. That both of this weekend’s opponents are now 9-2 in MAAC play and tied with preseason favorite Iona at the top of the standings doesn’t ease the disappointment Mihalich feels after three straight losses.

“We come out Friday and lay an egg today was even worse,” Mihalich said. “After Friday night, when I talked to the team it was one of those life lesson things. Basically, the message was from the heart. There’s two things you deal with in life: failure and success. And I don’t think we’re dealing with either one the right way.”

The Purple Eagles (9-14, 9-7 MAAC) are now seventh in the conference standings, a game behind Siena in the race for a top-six record and an opening-round bye in the conference tournament. A week ago the Purple Eagles were tied for fifth and appearing ready to make a push for a top four finish.

And even though Niagara played well enough to win last week at Manhattan, Mihalich didn’t like the attitude his players took into the game.

“Three-game win streak, that’s success right there. That’s where you should be feeling good about yourselves and, as I said to the team, hungry for more success, can’t wait to play again,” he said. “And we weren’t that way down at Manhattan and that’s why we lost the game.”

Mihalich was even more discouraged by his team’s response to that defeat and a lack of motivation following Friday night’s loss to Loyola.

“We’re supposed to be disappointed, angry, fired up and I didn’t see that,” he said. “In addition to learning how to play better, how to dribble pass and shoot, I think our guys need to learn the game of life a little better.”

Niagara hung around for much of the first half with the hottest team in the MAAC, shooting nearly 50 percent early on against a team that has held its last six opponents to 36 percent shooting.

But the Jaspers, winners of seven straight, built a 38-80 lead by haltime, then went up by as many as 21 points in the second half, while the Purple Eagles looked disinterested on both ends of the floor.

“Our team just wasn’t mentally prepared for a fight,” said Juan’ya Green, who led Niagara with 18 points, but also had seven turnovers against only three assists.

Antoine Mason had 17 points and five assists but continued his season-long struggles from the foul line by making just 3 of 11 free throws.

Marvin Jordan had 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting off the bench. Malcolm Lemmons had six points, Ameen Tanksley had five points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Josh Turner had five points.

Niagara now goes on the road to play Fairfield and Rider next weekend.