BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- For 45 minutes, the Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University men's basketball teams battled and fought their way through a game which featured double-digit runs,  double-digit come backs, and double-digit scorers. By the final buzzer, 11 student-athletes scored 10 or more points, two of whom had double-doubles. Jonathan Kasibabu posted 12 points and 15 rebounds for Fairfield while Tevin Falzon registered 12 points and 10 caroms for Sacred Heart.

                But it was the Stags that outlasted their counterparts with an 83-79 win in overtime at Webster Bank Arena. With seven lead changes and seven tied scores, this game was perhaps the best matchup in the six-year history of this series.  

                The Pioneers opened the game as well as any team could hope, hitting their first five shots from the floor and running out to a 13-0 lead. Three of those shots came from behind the arc from three different Sacred Heart shooters. But as improbable as it sounds, Fairfield came right back with 14 straight points of its own to grab its first lead of the game at 14-13 following Jerry Johnson Jr.'s three-point field goal at the 14:05 mark. Tyler Nelson added six points during that Fairfield come back.

                “This team is scrappy. This team is resilient,” Head Coach Sydney Johnson said. “We dug deep and that's what we been doing in our practices and in every game. I thought we got caught up in the home opener playing in front of three of four-thousand fans. It was a tremendous crowd. I'm really proud of how we responded.”

                The visitors managed to recapture the lead on Cane Broome's layup on the team's next possession, a lead which improved to three points after Quincy McKnight followed with a jumper. Once again, the Stags used a string of points to erase a Pioneer lead, this time six straight points on two layups from Nelson and another from Marcus Gilbert. The spurt pushed Fairfield in front 20-17 with 12:23 on the clock.

                After pulling ahead by five points, the Stags saw its advantage evaporate with five straight points from Sacred Heart to make it a 24-24 game with nine minutes remaining. The game would remain tied at 26, 28, and 30 before Fairfield found a way to get more student-athletes involved in the offense. Fairfield closed the half by scoring 15 of the final 19 points to build a 45-34 lead by intermission. Five different Stags scored during the run led by six points from Jonathan Kasibabu and four points from Coleman Johnson.

                The Stags would still hold a double-digit lead in the second half, the last of which stood at 62-52 with just under 10 minutes remaining. But in keeping in theme, Sacred Heart found a way to string together 12 points that would put the visitors in front 64-62 with six minutes remaining. But just as they did all night long, the Stags responded well to the gauntlet thrown down by their opponent. Fairfield scored 10 of the next 14 points to build a 72-68 lead with three minutes remaining with Jerome Segura and Marcus Gilbert each hitting a three-point shot in the run.

                Sacred Heart would manage to the tie the game down the stretch, the tying point coming off a free throw by Jordan Allen, which would eventually send the game into overtime. The Pioneers would miss their first five shots from the field to start overtime, allowing the Stags to gain an advantage that it would carry throughout the extra five minutes.

                Tyler Nelson posted 16 points while Johnson Jr. tallied 16 points off the bench for Fairfield, accounting for most of the team's 28 bench points. Segura added 15 points and seven assists, followed by Gilbert's 12 markers. Chris Robinson tallied all of Sacred Heart's bench points.

                The Stags head south for their next game, a November 24 meeting with Maryland-Eastern Shore at 5:30 pm. After that game, Fairfield returns to Alumni Hall for a November 27 game with Columbia University. Game time is slated for 5 pm.