COLLEGE PARK, Md. – With the rule change that increased the length of the three-point shot, teams have struggled a bit with the adjustment from the arc. The Fairfield University men's basketball team entered this game shooting 27 percent from three-point range with 17 made in four games. But tonight, the Stags seemed to have made the adjustment, netting 12 of 25 three pointers and shooting 48 percent in a 74-55 loss to sixth-ranked University of Maryland.

                The three-point shot was a weapon that Fairfield has used before but this was the first time they unleashed it this season. Five different Stags made a shot from behind the arc led by Landon Taliaferro's five three point field goals. Jesus Cruz, Kevin Senghore-Peterson and Calvin Whipple each made two while Wassef Methnani added one to round out the dozen three pointers.

                "We haven't been shooting the three well so it was good to come out and see a couple go in," Head Coach Jay Young said. "They just neutralize everything at the rim with Smith there. Because of that you have to make jump shots because there isn't really anything there close. Because of Maryland's length, we really needed to make jump shots just to stick around."

                From the start, Fairfield was able to score from a distance, scoring their first nine points from deep points on the court. Taliaferro gave Fairfield its first lead at 3-2, which Cruz followed to provide the team's biggest lead of the night at 6-2. When Maryland rallied for six quick points, Whipple stepped up and added three more points with his jumper, making the score 9-8 with 14:54 on the clock.

                Maryland started to attack the rim, scoring down low through Jalen Smith and grabbing rebounds when the team missed shots. The Terrapins would use their length around the rim to collect 16 offensive rebounds which they turned into 18 second-chance points. And even when they did not score, the offensive rebounds kept the Stags' possessions down.

                Still, Fairfield managed to stay close for a majority of the first half, trailing by only six points at the eight-minute media timeout at 20-14. Coming out of the timeout, Maryland outscored the Stags by a 21-13 margin over the remaining time in the half to take a double-digit lead into halftime, 41-27. The score marked the first time that Fairfield trailed at the half this season.

                Head Coach Jay Young brought his team out for the second half and saw the Stags slowly creep back into the game, coming as close as eight points at 49-41 with 14:07 remaining, a margin reached after another Taliaferro three pointer. The deficit was still manageable with nine minutes on the clock as Maryland was able to hit a double-figure lead again at 59-49.

                The Terrapins used a 15-6 run down the stretch to push the lead to its final margin of 19 points at 74-55.

                Taliaferro finished the game with 15 points, making five of nine three pointers while Cruz and Whipple connected on two of three three-point tries resulting in 13 and six points for the duo, respectively. Chris Madoh led all Fairfield rebounders with six but also added three blocks in a game for the third time in five starts.

                "We competed tonight but we need to be ae little bit more consistent with sticking to the game plan," Young said. "If we do that, we are a good basketball team. They fought tonight and I was proud of how the team played."
 
                Smith paced the Maryland offense with 17 points, leading four Terrapins in double figures. Ricky Lindo Jr. and Eric Ayala each posted 13 points while Anthony Cowan added 12 points.

                Fairfield is off until next week's Orlando Invitational when it will play the University of Southern California on Thanksgiving Day. Game time is slated for 4 pm.