Box Score ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team dropped its Hercules Tire MAAC Basketball Championship first round game to Manhattan College on Tuesday night by a 61-43 score at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Taj Benning led all Fairfield scorers with 10 points, netting 8 of 10 from the free throw to account for most of his points.

The Stags started the game with a pair of baskets in the first two minutes as Chris Maidoh opened with a jumper from the left elbow and Landon Taliaferro followed with a  short jumper from the free throw line. Manhattan answered with five straight points to take the lead at 5-4 before Allan Jeanne Rose added two charity tosses to give the Stags another lead at 6-5.

The Jaspers responded with six straight points, all coming from outside the three-point arc to double up Fairfield at 11-6. Manhattan four of its seven field goals from three-point range but the rest of the long-range jumpers came later in the half. The Stags defense took over and shutdown their opponents for nearly nine minutes which allowed the team to string 10 straight points together to gain a16-11 lead after Jesus Cruz ended the run with a three-point shot. After a free throw by Manhattan, the Stags pushed the lead to their biggest advantage of the game at 18-12 with 5:27 on the clock.

Manhattan scored seven of the final eight points in the half and managed to go into the locker room tied with Fairfield at 19-19. Rose, Benning, and Wassef Methnani paced the first half offense with four points each.

The second half opened with a Manhattan basket before Taliaferro and Maidoh posted a field goal each to recapture the lead for Fairfield at 23-21.The Jaspers scored the next eight points to take the lead at 29-23 and would not relinquish their edge for the remainder of the game. The ninth seed would lead by as many as 20 points late in the game before settling for the final margin of 18 points.

Fairfield struggled from the floor in this game, making five field goals in the first half (24 attempts) and five field goals in the second half (20 attempts) to finish the night with a .250 field goal percentage. The performance comes one game removed from its season high of 61 percent shot against the Jaspers during the regular-season finale victory last Friday night.

Pauly Paulicap led all Manhattan scorers with 18 points and added game-high 12 rebounds to complete his double-double. Maidoh and Methnani followed Benning in the scoring column with seven points each. Benning was also the team's top rebounder, collecting six caroms in his 37 minutes of work.