BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Despite only having four games under their belt at Fairfield, junior
Landon Taliaferro and freshman
Neftali Alvarez have certainly shown their capabilities and just how they can contribute to the Stags men's basketball program. Through the first four games of the season, Alvarez led the team in scoring in the first two game of the campaign and today Taliaferro garnered a team-best 27 points in the team's 79-73 loss to Wagner College at Webster Bank Arena.
The duo combined for 16 of the team's 26 field goals and shot a combined 50 percent from the floor (16 of 32). Taliaferro seemed to make several big shots down the stretch that kept Fairfield's hope alive while Alvarez provided his best all-around game of the season with 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
To those who have followed the Stags through the first few weeks of the season, this pair's performance today is not surprising. The two student-athletes stand on top among the team's leading scorers with Taliaferro pacing the team with a 16.3 scoring average and Alvarez placing second with 14.8 scoring average. To Head Coach
Sydney Johnson, the newcomers are showing that they can live up to the preseason expectations, something that is difficult to do for a couple of first-year players with the program.
"Landon is an outstanding shooter but he also has a little more than just shooting," Coach Johnson said. "Not only did he lead junior college in threes but he was fourth in field goals made so he has more than just three-point shooting. He has a nice floater and good mid-range shot plus he's defending a lot better than when he first arrived.
"Neftali is all over the place, always disrupting and we want to see more of that when he's on the floor. He's great at getting to the rim and a very unselfish, humble kid. His energy is hard to match so we want to get that going because that's a key piece for us along with Jonathan (Kasibabu) which helps connect the team from the guard spot to the forward spot."
Kasibabu served as a mentor on the floor today, giving Fairfield just what it needed when it needed it most. The senior scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half and finished the game with eight rebounds in 30 minutes despite carrying around four fouls.
After a slow start against LIU Brooklyn, Fairfield seemed to find its way early by scoring the first seven points of the game. Wagner responded with nine consecutive points to grab a quick lead at 9-7 with 12 minutes remaining in the half before
Felix Lemetti's first three pointer recaptured the lead on the next possession.
Taj Benning followed with a three-point field goal and
Jesus Cruz tacked on two more points to push Fairfield back in control at 15-9 in a span of 83 seconds.
Fairfield would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the first half although the Seahawks managed to tie the game twice at 27, 29, and 31 before Taliaferro's three pointer put Fairfield back in front at 34-31, a shot that would help propel the Stags into a 36-34 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, Wagner stepped up its pressure and caught the Stags flat-footed at times which enabled the visitors to gain some momentum. Wagner would take its first lead since the opening minutes when Elijah Davis netted a jumper at the 14:58 mark which brought the score to 45-43. Kasibabu would tie the game with a layup on Fairfield's next trip on offense before Wagner reeled off seven straight points, five of which came from Davis, to take its biggest lead to that point at 52-45 with 11:14 on the clock.
"Their energy punched us to start the second half and we didn't punch back," Coach Johnson said. "We spent a lot of time talking about it during timeouts and after the game. But we never fought back during that early run."
Taliaferro broke the run with a layup but Wagner used an 11-2 run over the next six minutes to reach its biggest lead of the game at 63-49.
Fairfield trailed by 11 points with two minutes remaining but shows some resilience to make a solid run at the finish. The Stags put together an 11-4 run in a minute and a half to come within four points after Lemetti's three pointer made the score 72-68. But Fairfield could come no closer as Wagner made free throws down the stretch to keep Fairfield at arm's length.
Two Wagner student-athletes registered double-doubles in the contest, led by AJ Sumbry's 15 points and 14 rebounds and Romone Saunders' 16 points and 12 caroms.
Fairfield returns to the court on Friday, November 23 when they play Longwood University as part of the Elgin Baylor Classic, hosted by Seattle University. The game is the first of three contests scheduled for the Stags as the team will also play the host school on November 24 and the University of Denver on November 25.
