FAIRFIELD, Conn. – This was a game that went back and forth for 40 minutes as the two teams knew that a result today would firm up position in the MAAC standings. Each team had opportunities but in the end Siena College came away with the win as the Saints edged the Stags by a 62-59 score in front of a sellout crowd at Alumni Hall.
 
            The first 10 minutes of the game featured both teams taking leads only to see the opponent fight back to take the advantage away. In the first half, neither team could manage an edge that could not be tied or erased on one possession, at least for the first 16 minutes.
           
            The final four minutes of the first half belonged to Fairfield, coming out of the final media timeout of the half down a point. But the Stags headed into the locker room with a five-point halftime lead, the largest advantage by either team to that point. Fairfield reached that two-possession margin with an 8-2 run that featured four points from Eze and a pair of points by both Taj Benning and Aidas Kavaliauskas.
 
            The Stags built their halftime lead into a game-high eight points with 15:22 remaining before Siena began to work its way back into the contest.  Fairfield was still in front with seven minutes remaining, holding onto a 51-46 lead. Siena scored the next nine points in just under three minutes to erase the deficit and take a three-point lead of its own at 54-51 with just over four minutes on the clock. The run started with a three-point field goal by Camper which Jordan King followed with another three pointer on the team's next possession.
 
             After a defensive stop, the Saints added to their lead when Sammy Friday IV converted a three-point play to bring the score to 55-51. Following two made free throws by Eze, Siena scored the next five points on a Donald Carey layup and another three pointer from King which gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game at 60-53 with 1:55 on the clock.
 
             Benning netted his first three pointer of the game to bring that deficit down to four points and Landon Taliaferro made one of two free throws on the next possession to make it a one possession game at 60-57 with 35 seconds left. Camper made two free throws which were matched by a pair of free throws from Kavaliauskas with 27 seconds remaining.
 
              Siena had a chance to put the game out of reach with 19 seconds left but missed two free throws to give Fairfield a chance to tie. The Stags managed to get off a three-point field goal attempt but the shot skipped off the rim and fell out as the buzzer sounded.
 
            "I thought we played hard and competed but our offensive execution was just okay today," Head Coach Jay Young said. "You have to give credit to Siena because they played well and deserved to win the game. We missed too many shots, took too many threes and missed some critical free throws. We had some defensive miscues that contributed to that 9-0 run late in the game. We just didn't execute when we needed it."
 
           Eze just missed a double-double for the Stags with a team-leading 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Benning reached double figures with 11 points. Elijah Burns netted a team-high 15 points and Manny Camper posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds for Siena.
 
           The Stags will continue their home stand with a pair of game next week beginning with a Friday night match up with Quinnipiac University before closing out the home portion of their schedule with a Sunday afternoon game against Rider University.