BUFFALO, N.Y. – Winning games on the road does not come easy. And tonight's win by the Fairfield University men's basketball team was about as tough as road wins can be. But if there is one thing that Head Coach Sydney Johnson has preached time and time again, it's that this team is as mentally and physically tough as any team can be.

                And that style led the Fairfield University men's basketball team to a 74-71 win over Canisius College at the Koessler Athletic Center on Thursday night. While the freshmen class has grabbed the headlines as of late, tonight it was the seniors with a very experienced sophomore that paved the way to this win.

                The offense of senior Marcus Gilbert and the defense of senior Coleman Johnson proved too much for the Golden Griffs. Gilbert finished the game with 17 points while Johnson posted a team co-leading seven rebounds along with Gilbert and six blocked shots with all of those rejections coming in the second half. Nelson led all Fairfield scorers with 22 points, including a three-pointer with 3:31 left that put the Stags up six points, 68-63.

                Canisius knocked that deficit down to stow points after a dunk by Kevin Bleeker and a layup from Phil Valenti. Enter Johnson once again, but this time on the offensive side of the court. The senior made three of four free throws in the closing seconds, including two with eight ticks on the clock that put Fairfield up 73-69 and sealed the win.

                The game featured 10 lead changes and 11 tied scores with the last tie coming at 58-58 with 9:27 on the clock. Gilbert netted a three-point field goal on the next possession that gave the Stags the lead, an advantage that they would not surrender the rest of the way.

                Fairfield found its range at the start of the game, beginning with Gilbert's three pointer on the first possession. The Stags added to its early lead by scoring six of the next eight points to bring the score to 9-2 just three minutes into the game. The Griffs put together eight straight points to gain their first lead of the game at 10-9 with Phil Valenti's three pointer capping the run and putting the home team in front.

                Neither team managed to grab much of an advantage from that point as the both squads stayed with one possession of each other. The two teams were tied three more times, the last of which came after Matija Milin made both ends of a one-and-one situation that brought the score to 29-29. Canisius closed out the final four minutes with an 11-5 run that sent Canisius into the locker room with a 40-34 lead.   Canisius managed to gain much of its halftime edge with points in the paint, outscoring the Stags 20-6 through the first 20 minutes.

                Curtis Cobb and Matija Milin also reached double figures for the Stags with 15 and 10 points, respectively. Phil Valenti registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Malcolm McMillan came off the bench to lead all Canisius scorers with 15 points.

                The Stags will finish up their two-game road trip on Saturday when they take on Niagara University. Game time is 3 pm.