SEATTLE, Wash. -- At times, a basketball coach must feel like an investor, knowing that you have to put up capital know with the hope that the investment will pay dividends later. Tonight was the game that Head Coach Sydney Johnson made his investment and by the looks of how his bench responded, the dividends may come sooner than later.

Although the Fairfield University men's basketball came up on the short end of an 83-80 decision against Seattle University, the team used 10 players who all received 10 or more minutes of work. The bench was forced into a larger role after foul trouble plagued the Stags from the opening minutes. Just seven minutes into the game, Seattle had earned the right to the one-and-one. And by the midway point of the first half, the Stags found three of their starters on the bench with two fouls. With limited minutes available from the starting five, Coach Johnson went to the reserves and the player responded.

"It's very exciting because we have a lot of options from the guys off the bench," Johnson said. "This team needs its time to grow which I've been saying since the preseason. We are seeing some of that growth now. You talk about a two-point loss here and a three-point loss there. I will continue to mine that so that we can continue to grow as the season progresses."

Fairfield stayed with its host for most of the first half with the exception of when the Redhawks opened up a 10-point lead at 27-17 with eight minutes remaining. Jesus Cruz scored on Fairfield's next possession, and after a defensive stop, Wassef Methnani made it back-to-back baskets for the Stags which brought the deficit down to six points, 27-21. With Methnani's basket, the reserves scored seven of the team's last 12 points of the half which included points from Felix Lemetti and Matija Milin. By the end of the half, Fairfield still trailed but the deficit came down to seven points, 38-31.

In the second half, Seattle managed to recapture its double-digit lead when Matej Kavas scored on a jumper that put the advantage back to 10 points at 52-42. Still trailing by 10 points at 60-50, Fairfield put together a 14-4 run that would tie the score at 64-64 with eight minutes remaining in the half. Methnani had a key three-point play while Neftali Alvarez also found his soft touch during that run. The freshman five of those points including the three-point field goal that provided the tying points.

"This team has a whole lot of heart," Coach Johnson said about the team's run. "This team shows a lot of guts which leads to a rebound here or getting a layup to roll in instead of roll out are the type of things that will continue to come our way as long as we approach the game the way we are right now."

Seattle nearly regained its initial lead and looked secure with its 79-70 advantage with two minutes remaining. Felix Lemetti started Fairfield's final rally with a three-point field goal, which Wassef Methnani followed with a pair of free throws. The Stags came within a possession after Landon Taliaferro netted his fourth three pointer of the game which made the score 81-80 with 13 seconds remaining. Seattle iced the game when Morgan Means made a pair of free throws with 10 seconds on the clock.

"Tonight, there was an inspired effort that just came up short," Coach Johnson said. "We are staying in the moment. It was a disappointing result yesterday and for the team to come out and battle and be relentless all the way through says a lot about the team. We just need to get over the hump."

Taliaferro finished the game with 12 points while Cruz added 11 points to the Fairfield cause. Matej Kavas led Seattle's offense with 20 points.

Fairfield will finish up its three-day run at the Elgin Baylor Classic by playing the University of Denver on Sunday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 3 pm tip.