RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University men's basketball team came up on the short end of a defensive struggle as Manhattan College edged the Stags by a 34-31 count at Draddy Gymnasium on Friday night. Marcus Gilbert led all Fairfield scorers with nine points.

                Fairfield could do no wrong in the opening five minutes as the Stags hit their first four three-point tries including a pair from Marcus Gilbert. The team played equally as well on the defensive side of the court, limiting Manhattan to just one basket in its first six shots which gave the Stags a 12-2 lead at the 14:55 mark.

                The Jaspers' defense kicked into play after Gilbert's second three-point field goal, keeping the Stags scoreless for the next nine minutes. During that stretch, Manhattan went on a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 15-12, the last points of the run coming off a three pointer by Shane Richards.

                Desmond Wade, who was making his first appearance in three weeks following an injury, stopped the run with a short jumper inside the lane which brought Fairfield within a point at 15-14. Manhattan answered with a jumper from Richards to regain its three-point edge. The Stags responded with a five-point spurt that pushed them back in front at 19-17 with the last three points coming from Gilbert. Michael Alvarado made the front end of a one-and-one but missed the second try to bring the half to close with Fairfield in the lead at 19-18.

                Manhattan came out of the locker room and scored the first four points of the half to take a 22-19 lead with 16:29 remaining in the half. Fairfield tallied its first point of the half when Nickerson made one of two free throws to bring the Stags within a basket at 22-20. Nickerson would score the next four Fairfield points the last of which would tie the game at 24-24 with 13:40 remaining.

                The score would remain tied at 26-26 and 29-29 before a back door cut by Keith Matthews regained the lead for the Stags at 31-29 at the 4:48 mark. The Jaspers would  break a six-minute scoring drought when RaShawn Stores made a three-point shot from the corner to push Manhattan in front at 32-31. Manhattan would tack on two more free throws with 15 seconds remaining when Donovan Kates made both ends of a one-and-one to make it a 34-31 final score.

                Fairfield will play its regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon when it heads to Marist College for a 2 pm game.