Throughout the game, Neftali Alvarez kept picking himself up off the floor. Every drive and every possession meant something in his eyes and he wanted to make every play count. The freshman was quite successful in that vein, finishing this afternoon's match up with a career-high 23 points and lifting the Fairfield University men's basketball team to a 63-57 win over the University of New Hampshire.

                Alvarez not only picked up himself up before the game as well. After going scoreless for the first time in his career at Boston College, the guard rallied for his personal best just six days later. He didn't do anything differently physically. For him, it was more just doing what he knew he could do.

                "I had a bad game last time because I didn't play like I usually do," Alvarez said. "I knew that I had to do my job to help my teammates so that was the reason I played like I did today. I tried to play real hard in the second half when we needed it."

                It's no surprise to Head Coach Sydney Johnson that Alvarez rallied from his scoreless effort at Boston College. Every player has a game or two where he struggles but it's the way a player comes back that really defines him.

                "I think it's a joke if anyone doubted Neftali after the last game," Coach Johnson said. "There's going to be a blip here and there but he has to learn just like everyone else. He's just getting started here."

                The freshman scored 11 points in the first half, including a three-point play with 1:29 on the clock that solidified a lead at halftime for the Stags. Fairfield trailed 22-19 with five minutes left in the half but rallied with nine straight points, the last three coming on Alvarez's three-point play that gave Fairfield a 28-22 edge. The Stags eventually settled for a 28-24 lead at the half, completely erasing a seven-point deficit it faced with eight minutes to go.

                Fairfield started the second half by netting the first seven points, including a three-point field goal from Felix Lemetti and Alvarez, which pushed the team's lead to 35-24. The 11-point lead would represent the largest of the game for Fairfield, the last of which came at 37-26 with 16 minutes left on the clock.

                New Hampshire answered with five straight points which nearly cut the lead in half at 37-31 before Jesus Cruz stopped the spurt with a driving layup. The Wildcats came within four points after a three-point field goal from Nick Guadarrama, a deficit it would face on a couple of other occasions but would never come any closer.

                The Stags would expand their lead to nine points after a pair of free throws and a layup on back-to-back possession from Jonathan Kasibabu, making the score 58-49. New Hampshire did what it had to do to get back in the game, scoring points without the clock running. The Wildcats made five straight free throws to bring the back to four points, 58-54, before Alvarez gave momentum back to the Stags with a pair of charity tosses with 47 seconds left.

                The win sends the Stags into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference season in a positive way as Fairfield ended its non-conference slate this afternoon. The Stags will host Rider University on January 3 at Alumni Hall and will have a much better feeling about the game following today's result.

                "We have such a long break and we have been so close in so many games, this win certainly helps us going into the MAAC season," Coach Johnson said. "They have been giving me everything so it's important for them to be rewarded. The win confirms what we have doing on the floor so hopefully it will give us some momentum in January."