FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Somewhere in Head Coach Sydney Johnson's office lies a reset button. And each morning after a game, win or lose, Johnson walks into his office and resets, forgetting about the previous result and allowing him to concentrate on the next game.

                After a tough pair of games on this current home stand, Johnson's reset was exactly what the Fairfield University men's basketball team needed because the Stags played today's game against Iona College with renewed enthusiasm that was not as present over the last few games. The result of that rejuvenation came in the form of an 80-68 win over Iona College in front of a sold out Alumni Hall.

                "The guys did a great job of resetting because every game is its own," Coach Johnson said. "We had some very honest conversations because we haven't' really been ourselves the last few games. I think in all junctures of the game, beginning, middle, and end, we looked more like the team we have been in practice today."

                Fairfield brought the 2,400-plus fans to their feet early and often during the opening minutes of the game. The Stags started the game with 10 straight points as Landon Taliaferro and Jesus Cruz wrapped three pointers around a Cruz jumper to build the early lead. Taliaferro tacked on two free throws at the end of the run to push the lead to double figures just three minutes into the game.

                The free throw was very kind to Taliaferro today as the junior scored 11 of his 19 points from the charity stripe and 13 points inside the arc, by the far the most points that he has delivered from inside 20-feet. His previous high for points inside the three-point line was nine points set at Denver (9 of 21 points) and against Wagner (9 of 27 points).

                "I love seeing Landon with 12 free throws," Coach Johnson said. "People forget that Tyler Nelson was the best three point shooter in the history of our school but that kid got to the line and that's how he would score 25-30 points a night. We talked with Landon and said that if they want to push you off the line than you need to attack it. So it was nice to see him take that to heart and get to the line today."

                The Stags continued to put pressure on the Gaels by scoring quickly and often in those opening eight minutes, raising their lead to 17 points at 24-7 after Wassef Methnani scored off a layup. Cruz would be responsible for a third of those points with eight points, putting the sophomore well on his way to his third 20-point game in the last five outings.

                "I'm just picking my spots and being more aggressive," Cruz said. "We lost a lot of our scoring last year so I think I have a bigger role in scoring this season. I've been really working on my game and that has given me confidence when I play games."

                The Stags lead reached 21 points after a fast-break layup from Neftali Alvarez brought the score to 32-11 with 9:53 on the clock. Fairfield's biggest lead of the game occurred after Jonathan Kasibabu laid the ball in the basket that made the score to 40-17 with four minutes remaining. While Iona was able to cut into the deficit by halftime, Fairfield still walked into the locker room with a 17-point lead, 40-23.

                The Gaels opened the second half and showed the offensive prowess that vaulted into the top spot among MAAC teams for scoring offense, averaging just over 80 points per game. Iona 13-7 start to bring the score back to 11 points, 47-36, before Fairfield flashed some of its own offensive might and put the lead back to 17 points after a Cruz three pointer turned the score to 59-42 at the 11:56 mark.

                Fairfield saw that lead slip from double digits to nine points after E.J. Crawford converted a three-point play, pulling the visitors to within 73-64 with three minutes remaining. However, a pair of free throws from both Taliaferro and Cruz ended the comeback attempt by pushing the advantage to 13 points, 77-64 with two minutes left.

                The Stags held Iona to 68 points, 12 points below its season average and the lowest game total since falling at VCU after netting 59 points. Fairfield's defense was a determining factor in this game as compared to the last time these two teams met.

                "Our defense didn't let down today," Cruz said. "Our defense went down in the second half the last time we played Iona and that allowed them to make their comeback. We already had that in our minds today so we locked down on defense and kept playing together and stayed aggressive and that led to the win."

                "Basketball is real simple game," Coach Johnson said. "The mark of a team can be determined by watching how it defends and watching the bench to see how cohesive the group is. We defended well today because we gave each other the best effort we could every minute of the game. We cheered each other on and celebrated our success."

                The team was not the only entity that celebrated the Stags' success today. The Fairfield faithful applauded often and showed its appreciation for the team's effort this afternoon.

                "The atmosphere was wonderful today," Coach Johnson said. "I love playing on campus and I want to get that Red Sea Madness like it was back in the day. The energy from the students and all the families and fans from around town was incredible. The crowd really helped us today and was part of our win."

                Five Fairfield players reached double figures led by Cruz's career-high 24 points, followed by Taliaferro's 19 points. Alvarez and Jonathan Kasibabu added 11 and 10 points respectively while Methnani led all reserves with 11 points.

                Fairfield starts the second half of the season with three straight road games, beginning with a match up with Manhattan College on January 31. The road trip continues with a game at Marist on February 2 and at Siena on February 4 before the team returns to Webster Bank Arena for the final time on February 9 against Monmouth.