There have been a lot of incredible and historic sports seasons at Fairfield University over the years. This second installment relives the 1985-86 men's basketball team historic run to the MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament.  If you missed part one, click here to read the story.

All for one and …
 
Since arriving at Fairfield, George had always been a scorer. As a freshman, he averaged 14.2 points, second on the team behind Pete DeBisschop. The next three years, he led the Stags, averaging 16.5, 18.4 and 20.3 points – and this was without a 3-point line. From anywhere on the floor, George was a threat.
 
"Tony, he could fill it up," Yerina said. "He was quiet, but he went out and did his job."
 
"He had a quiet confidence about him," Gromos said. "He was a leader in his own way. Level-headed. Nothing ever really got to him."
 
Yerina stood just 6-foot-5, small by today's standards, but at 220 pounds, he could hold his own with anyone down on the low blocks.
 
"Pat … he was a tough guy," said George. "He knew what he could do on the court. He could score but he was there to rebound and play good defense and he did that very well."
 
After playing in 55 games over his first two seasons – no starts – Buonaguro gave the point guard job to Golden and he responded with 126 assists, nearly double the 65 he posted in his first two campaigns.
 
"Ed, he's a special guy to me. He got me the ball in a lot of places where I could do something with it," George said. "He was the quarterback of the team. He got everyone in the right positions. He didn't care about personal stats, that's what made him such a great point guard. Eddie cared about getting us all involved and getting us the ball in the right place at the right time."
 
Added Yerina, "Ed kept us all together. I remember (Army coach) Les Wothke said that 'Ed was the straw that stirred the drink' and that was true."
 
Said Gromos, "Ed was such an underrated shooter. I remember times when Ed was wide open and didn't shoot the ball because Mitch didn't want him shooting. But he was a great point guard, he knew all the plays inside and out. Very intelligent, he always kept it together even when he was banged up. The straw that stirs the drink … exactly."
 
Wynder, who had started 53 of the previous 56 games at the point, moved to the 2 spot and dug into a new role as the Stags' defensive leader.
 
"I always got the (other team's) scorer," Wynder said. "I took that task to heart. I had the quickness, the quick hands, the athleticism. I would lock into a guy and try and frustrate him."

"A.J., he gave us speed and that's something we really didn't have," Yerina said. "He was quick. I'd get a rebound, pass to him and he'd be dunking on the other end. That was something."
 
Said Gromos, "A.J. was extremely talented. It was great to have him in the mix because he could bring the ball up the floor and create."
 
Others, like freshman guard Troy Bradford (26 games, 4.5 points), freshman forward Tom Squeri (30 games, 3.4 points), sophomore center Andy Woodtli (18 games) and junior forward Chip Simenz (16 games) all gave Buonaguro whatever they could when called on.
 
"Troy was a huge addition," Gromos said. "He also was a great shooter who could stretch the floor. That was good for me because teams had to guard him on the perimeter and opened up space inside for me."
 
"Mitch gave us our roles and we followed them to a T," George said. "Everyone did. We perfected the 'team' concept. Everyone who came in gave us energy."
 
Down the stretch
 
After losing to Navy (a team with another future NBA star, David Robinson), Fairfield knocked off New Hampshire, Holy Cross and Manhattan to end the regular season at 21-6. They pounded Manhattan 80-56 in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals and then squeaked past St. Peter's 49-47 in the semifinals, setting up a date with Holy Cross, and their star, Jim McCaffery, for the championship. McCaffery, a 6-1 senior guard averaged 22.8 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the floor (48.9), scoring 571 points in just 25 games.
 
But with McCaffery missing all nine of his shot attempts in the first half of the MAAC championship, Fairfield opened a 32-20 halftime lead and extended that margin to 17 (42-25) with 15:27 to play.
 
"We came out with guns blazing, running our offense, going to the goal and getting easy baskets," George said, who scored 27 points, including 18 in the second half. "We dictated the pace, we got up in McCaffery's face and helped A.J. as much as possible."
 
"I was able to frustrate McCaffery a little," Wynder said. "He had had some huge games that year. He was used to putting up big numbers. I just locked in on him and tried to frustrate him."
 
Eventually, though, Wynder and the rest of the Stags knew McCaffery was going to find his range.
 
"Listen, no one stopped McCaffery, he was just 'off' in the first half," Bradford said. "In the second half, he went crazy, but we were able to survive it."
 
McCaffery scored 25 points – 24 in the second half – but Holy Cross never got closer than three points as the Stags captured the MAAC tournament title.
 
"The kids played their hearts out," Buonaguro told the Bridgeport Post. "I can't be happier for the kids and for Fairfield. This is a great thing. The first time going to the NCAA and I think it's going to be a tremendous lift to our program."
 
"That put Fairfield on the map," George said. "We were standing on the national stage."


 
The Big Dance
 
The Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum was the scene as the Stags, seeded No. 13, took on the No. 4 seed Fighting Illini of Illinois. With 11:07 left in the first half, Fairfield led 14-12 but Illinois used a 22-8 half-ending run to take a 34-22 advantage into the locker room. 
 
"I lot of people thought Illinois was better than a No. 4 seed. They had Bruce Douglas, Ken Norman, Efrem Winters, they had pros," Buonaguro said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. To me, they didn't play fast. The problem was going to be scoring, they were a great defensive team. The kid that really beat us was a 6-foot-9 kid, Anthony Welch. He had 22 points. But for 30-plus minutes, we looked pretty good."
 
The Stags cut the margin to 40-34 with 14:02 to play as George, Yerina and Gromos scored but Fairfield could never seem to get that clutch basket when they needed it while Illinois used a brief, but effective, 8-0 run to take control.
 
"Oh, man, we were right there for a long time," George said. "They had Bruce Douglas (the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year) on me and he was all over me. He played great defense on me. That was when the Big 10 was 'The Big 10' and everyone stayed four years. They had a real big team and we just couldn't compete physically with them down as the game went on."
 
"For the first 30, 33 minutes, we were right there," Bradford said. "I think we were down just six or seven and they (Illinois) were looking at each other like, 'What's going on?' because if we made one or two more shots the crowd would have really gotten on our side and then, anything could have happened."
 
"We just needed one basket or two to keep us right there and we could never get it," Golden said. "Illinois was just too big and too strong, and they took advantage. But we were right there for a while. For the longest time, we felt like we belonged."
 
A 24-7 final overall record. A MAAC mark of 13-1. A conference championship. A ticket to the Big Dance.
 
"That team, it was special," Yerina said. "We enjoyed each other. We had a good time and we worked hard to get there, that's for sure."
 
The Stags won 13 games by five points or less, 10 by three points or fewer. At Alumni Hall, Fairfield averaged 2,769 fans a game and sold out the building five times. And on the road, Fairfield was perfect.
 
"We won every close game," Buonaguro said. "We could have gone undefeated in the league. Another amazing thing was, we didn't lose a road game. We were 12-0 on the road. We might have been the only team in the country to do that that season."