ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – After giving fans an incredible ride through the 2021 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Basketball Championship, the Fairfield University men's basketball fell short of its goal by falling in the championship game. The Stags battled hard just as they had in their previous three wins in the tournament, but could not overcome a tough offensive night that resulted in a 60-51 setback to Iona College.
"Our offense just didn't show up tonight," Head Coach
Jay Young said. "It was a combination of playing a very good defensive team in Iona and, when we were able to get open shots, we were not able to make them. And when you miss that many shots, it means they are going to be in transition. We just could not muster any offense and you are not going to beat a team like Iona by scoring 51 points."
The Stags fell behind early which was not something new in this tournament. Fairfield overcame halftime deficits against Manhattan and Saint Peter's to reach the championship game. Tonight, Fairfield found itself trailing by seven points midway through the first half before rallying behind
Taj Benning. The senior turned that deficit into a more manageable two-point edge when he connected on a three-point shot and a basket on successive possessions.
The lead remained two points at 20-18 with four minutes remaining but Iona managed to score the final 10 points of the half to take a double-digit lead into the locker room at 30-18. Once again, the Stags showed early resiliency against the Gaels, coming within four points at 32-28 after
Jake Wojcik netted a three-point field goal with 15 minutes.
Iona answered with an 11-3 run that inflated the lead back to 12 points which was where the Gaels kept the edge for most of the game. The Stags were able to cut the deficit to under 10 points on a couple of occasions but Iona managed to find a way to raise the lead again.
Wojcik led all Fairfield scorers with 13 points while
Taj Benning and
Caleb Green also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. Asante Gist paced Iona with 18 points followed by Isaiah Ross with 13 points.
Despite the disappointment of the loss, Fairfield showed of what they are capable as illustrated by the strong finish to a difficult season. After a slow start to the campaign, the Stags finished strongly with by winning seven of their final 11 games including four straight at the end of the year. And it is that foundation that Coach Young will build upon for the 2021-22 season.
"We were not a good team early in the year," Coach Young said. "But I never thought it was a personnel issue. I thought it was an execution issue and we just had to get better. Credit my staff because we just rolled up our sleeves and fixed issues. We went to work every day and so did the team. I'm proud of where we ended up but am devastated for our guys. But they know if they keep working hard, they can get back here."
The effort that the team put forth over the last four games at the MAAC Tournament only illustrates how this team can work together to overcome the obstacles that teams face during a season.
"I love these guys. We had a lot of adversity this year," Coach Young said. " But they just fought and fought all season just like they did today. I felt we deserved to win this game because of how hard they played. But we didn't win it so give credit to Iona. But if we keep doing what we are doing, showing up and putting the work in, we will be back in this game with a different result."
