BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – After returning home following a successful 3-1 road trip, the Fairfield University men's basketball stumbled in its first home game in a month by dropping a 70-58 decision to Marist College at Webster Bank Arena.
 
The Red Foxes used one of their best offensive nights of the season, a point total only surpassed by its 75 points against The Citadel, to get past the Stags. Nearly half of those points came from long range as Marist connected on 10 of 21 three-point attempts. Plus, the team became the first in four games to out rebound Fairfield by a 37-29 count, a fundamental staple at which the Stags have excelled throughout the season.
 
"I give Marist a lot of credit," Head Coach Jay Young said. "They came in at 1-11 and decided tonight that they were going to be 2-11. They were a much more physical team so I am disappointed that we didn't come ready to play tonight against a team that was hungry for a win. They deserve a ton of credit and certainly deserved to win."
 
Tyler Saint-Furcy scored a game-high 17 points and made four of his five three-point field goal attempts to pace the Marist offense, one of three double-digit scorers for the Red Foxes. The Stags also had three players surpass 10 points tonight, highlighted by 13 points from Vincent Eze and a season-best 13 points by Aidas Kavaliauskas. Taj Benning also contributed 10 points to the Fairfield cause.
 
Fairfield only held two leads in the game and both came early in the first half. Eze scored the first points of the game which put the Stags in front just 45 seconds into the contest. Marist took the lead on Michael Cubbage's three-point field goal, the first of 10 three pointers for the team this evening. The Red Foxes lead reached six points at 11-5 before the Stags rallied for seven straight points to put Fairfield back in front, 12-11, after a pair of Eze free throws. Kavaliauskas also had a three-point field goal during the run.
 
Jack Cavanaugh erased the Marist deficit with a three pointer with 8:58 remaining, pushing the visitors in the lead at 14-12. Fairfield tied the game on Landon Taliaferro's jumper and again at 16-16 after an Eze basket. Marist strung together seven straight points to take its largest lead to that point at 23-16, a run started with another three-point shot from Saint-Furcy.
 
Marist held a 28-20 lead at halftime which Saint-Furcy quickly turned into a double-digit advantage following a three pointer that pushed the score to 31-20 just 20 seconds into the second half. Fairfield responded with four straight points to bring it to its closest margin at 31-24 after an Eze free throw. The Red Foxes were up by as many as 16 points in the second half before settling for the 12-point win.
 
The Stags will continue their three-game home stand with an upcoming pair of games at Alumni Hall. The team hosts Manhattan College, currently unbeaten in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play at 2-0, on January 10. On January 15, Saint Peter's comes to the Fairfield campus for a match up with Stags. Both games are scheduled for 7 pm.