Box Score Box Score

                NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Taj Benning tied his career high for scoring with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half, but the Fairfield University men's basketball team was unable to overcome a halftime deficit in its 64-57 loss to Iona College. The decision evened up the Stags' Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) record to 3-3 on the year.

                "We had some good moments and some not so good moments," Head Coach Jay Young said"We have to get better on offense and we preach that all the time. We need to find some secondary ways to score. We have a good group of guys but I am disappointed that our execution was not there down the stretch tonight and that's something we have to continue to work on."

                Fairfield grabbed an early lead in the first half, using a 7-0 run to break a 9-9 tie and take its biggest lead of the game at 16-9. Benning and Wassef Methnani scored two points each while Calvin Whipple capped the run with a three-point field goal. The lead stayed intact until the 2:10 mark when Iona was able to take its first lead since the 15-minute mark after Dylan van Eyck laid the ball in the basket to make the score 27-25.

                Jesus Cruz added a free throw to bring the Stags within a point before the Gaels closed out the final 90 seconds with four points to go into the locker room ahead 31-26. Cruz came off the bench to lead the Stags offensively in the opening half, netting eight points off three field goals and a pair of free throws.

                In the second half, Fairfield scored the first five points to tie the score at 31-31, courtesy of a pair of points from Benning and Vincent Eze followed by a free throw from Chris Maidoh. Iona answered with five points of its own before Maidoh cut into the lead with a three-point play. Maidoh would score all 10 of his points in the second half which would give the freshman a career high for scoring.

                The Gaels built the lead to as many as eight points midway through the half, holding a 49-41 lead with 9:31 remaining. Fairfield put together a few runs to come within three points six times over the final nine minutes, the last of which had the score at 60-57 with one minute remaining after Maidoh's jump hook. The points would be Fairfield's last of the game as Iona closed out the game with a pair of layups to finish up the scoring.

                "Iona executed down the stretch and made some big plays tonight," Coach Young said. "We tried to crawl back in it but we couldn't get the big stop and they made a couple of huge baskets at the end."

                Eze came close to a double-double for the Stags, coming off the court with eight points and nine rebounds. Tajuan Agee and Asante Gist paced the Iona offense with 13 points each.

                Fairfield has a week off before returning to the court on January 24 when it travels to Quinnipiac University for a 7 pm game.