POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Staring at an eight-point deficit with nine minutes left in the second half, Jesus Cruz found clarity in what had been a challenging offensive night for both the Fairfield University and Marist College men's basketball teams. The junior scored eight points over those final minutes including a baby hook with four second left that sent the game into overtime.

                From there, Taj Benning and Vincent Eze combined for all 12 overtime points, numbers that were assisted by keen passing from Aidas Kavaliauskas, to send the Stags over the Red Foxes 57-53 at the McCann Center. The decision was the team's third overtime victory this season, sporting a 3-1 record in extra time.

                Cruz's run started at the 9:02 mark when he found space in the lane and scooped a shot into the basket, cutting the deficit to 37-31. On the next possession, the junior added a pair of free throws to his total that took two more points off the deficit with 8:35 on the clock. His next basket put the Stags in front at 43-42 with 1:36 remaining, while his final two points of the night tied the score setting up the five-minute extra period.

                "We certainly needed Jesus tonight because we were struggling to score baskets and find any points so he came up big for us," Head Coach Jay Young said. "He got into that area where he can be effective and made a couple of huge baskets for us so that's a great job by him."

                In overtime, Marist started things off with a pair of free throws from Jordan Jones that pushed the Red Foxes into the lead at 47-45. With some quick passing around the perimeter, Fairfield was able to free up Benning in the far corner for an open three-point try and he made the most of it, placing Fairfield in the lead at 48-47. The lead was short-lived as Jones was awarded and converted two more charity tosses to secure a one-point edge for the home team.

                Fairfield swayed things back to its side of the ledger by scoring on back-to-back possessions on basically the same play. Kavaliauskas worked his way through a double-team and drew a third defender before dishing the ball off to Eze, who scored off a dunk the first time and an unchallenged layup the second time to give a three-point lead to his teammates, the team's largest lead until the final score.

                "Taj made a big three for us and he and Vince made free throws that helped us down the stretch," Coach Young said. "Aidas did a good job because they were doubling him and he was able to step through and hit Vince on rolls that were big plays. Baskets were tough for us to come by so to get a couple easy of ones late took some pressure off of us."

                Baskets were tough to come by on both sides of the court as Fairfield finished with a .333 field goal percentage and Marist managed a .292 percentage from the floor. But when it came to crunch time, the Stags found their way by making five of six field goal tries in overtime.

                "For us it was about stops tonight," Coach Young said. "We held a team that had been playing well offensively to 29 percent for the game. We won this game with defense and we beat them on the glass. We didn't do that when they came to Fairfield. We lost the battle of the glass that night. We take pride in rebounding and that's been the focus for us the last few days so it's good to see that we returned to Fairfield basketball."

                Marist still challenged after Eze's field goals and cut the lead to one point on the next possession. With no options left but to foul, the Red Foxes sent Benning to the free throw line twice and the guard connected on all four attempts, the last of which put Fairfield in front, 56-53, with 18 seconds left. The Stags managed to get one more stop with a few ticks on the clock, forcing one more foul from Marist. Eze was the recipient of the free throws, netting one of two to finish the scoring in Fairfield's favor at 57-53.

                Benning finished the game with a team-best 15 points while Cruz added a dozen points. Eze just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, helping Fairfield gain a 45-35 edge on the glass tonight. Tyler Sagl and Michael Cubbage both tallied 11 points to pace the Marist offense.

                The Stags will finish up this two-game road trip at Saint Peter's University on Sunday, setting up a four-game home stand at George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall following its trip to Jersey City.