DAYTON, Ohio -- Overcoming a 21-point halftime deficit is never an easy task, especially when you are away from home. But the Fairfield University men's basketball team gave it a valiant try as the Stags erased 17 of those 21 points late in the second half before falling short against Jacksonville University by  92-84 count in the first game of the Wright State Tournament.  

The Stags seemed as though it might survive their sluggish start against the Dolphins, seemingly chipping away at the lead in each four-minute interval that brings about media timeouts. By the time the first media timeout came about, Fairfield had doubled its opponent by a 10-5 margin that brought the lead with 16 points. The trend continued throughout the second half until the Stags cut the deficit to just four points after Jesus Cruz's three-point field goal brought the score to 86-82 with 100 seconds remaining in the game.

The freshman's long-range jumper closed out a 15-5 run by Fairfield which turned an 81-67 deficit into the more manageable score of 86-82 with 1:40 on the clock. During that stretch, Tyler Nelson, Ferron Flavors Jr., and Cruz each netted a three pointer while Cruz paced the attack with seven of those 15 points. Nelson posted five points in that run which enabled the senior to lead all scorers in the game with 28 points.

But as the team had done throughout the game, Jacksonville, which entered the game as a 63 percent free throw shooting team, went to the line to push its advantage higher. The Dolphins made 11 of 16 free throws over the final five minutes of the game, giving the team 19 free throws in 26 attempts for the entire game. Devin Harris made 12 of the team's 19 charity tosses which allowed the redshirt senior to garner another double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

 The Stags did all they could to reverse the first half which started by Jacksonville scoring 13 of the game's first 15 points and taking a double-digit lead at 13-2 just five minutes into the game. Fairfield scored the next five points courtesy of Wassef Methnani's layup and Nelson's three-point field goal, cutting the advantage to 13-7. JD Notae answered the Stags' mini run with five straight points that regained the double-digit lead at 18-7. Fairfield managed to make one more attempt at getting back in the game as Jonathan Kasibabu's layup brought Fairfield within seven points, 32-25, with 7:23 on the clock. Jacksonville scored nine of the game's next 10 points that doubled up their lead and sent the score to 41-26 at the 4:45 mark.

Fairfield will play the second game of its three-day run in Dayton when it takes on Gardner-Webb University on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 pm. Gardner-Webb brought a 1-3 record into this tournament but played the second game of tonight's doubleheader against host Wright State.