BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Thirteen three-pointers and the best defensive effort in a conference game this season sparked a 73-53 victory for Fairfield University Men's Basketball against visiting Niagara on Saturday afternoon at Webster Bank Arena. Jesus Cruz led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points.

The win snapped a three-game losing skid for Fairfield (11-13, 5-8 MAAC) and also marked the Stags' first home conference win of the season. In addition, Fairfield completed the season sweep of Niagara (11-12, 6-8 MAAC) for the first time since a five-game winning streak over the Purple Eagles from 2016-18.
 
"That was a good and much-needed win against a team that's playing very well coming off a win over Iona," said Head Coach Jay Young. "We shared the ball better today with 18 assists, and we had a stretch where we grabbed some offensive rebounds and kicked it out to get open looks. We took a lot of good shots, and it was good to see the ball go in the basket."
 
Led by a career-high four three-pointers from Cruz, the Stags shot 13-for-24 from distance – their best performance this season at 54.2 percent and matching their most made triples against a Division I foe in 2021-22. Caleb Green and Chris Maidoh joined Cruz in double figures with 10 points apiece.
 
The balanced offensive effort included points for all nine Stags that played more than three minutes. Zach Crisler and Jake Wojcik each canned a pair of three-pointers on their way to eight points, Taj Benning and Supreme Cook netted seven apiece, TJ Long drained a pair from distance to account for his six points, and Jalen Leach chipped in a traditional three-point play in his 10 minutes of work.
 
Caleb Green facilitated much of the offense with eight assists – his single-game high as a Stag – in addition to his 10 points.
 
Defensively, the 53 points allowed are Fairfield's best showing against a MAAC opponent and second-best overall performance this season. The Stags had not defeated a MAAC team by 20 or more points since topping Marist by the same final score of 73-53 just over five years ago on Feb. 9, 2017. The defensive effort also saw the Stags limit Marcus Hammond – one of the MAAC's most prolific scorers with 18.3 points per game – to a season-low eight points on 4-for-14 shooting.
 
"They've got a backcourt as good as any in the MAAC and we did good job on those guys," said Young.
 
After a series of back-and-forth games throughout the MAAC schedule, the Stags led Saturday's contest wire-to-wire. Fairfield scored the game's first five points and took its first double-digit lead at 20-9 on a Chris Maidoh putback dunk with 9:38 to go in the period. Niagara scored the next nine points to draw back to within two, but the Stags responded with a 12-0 stretch to regain double-digit separation and ultimately take a 32-20 advantage into the locker room.
 
The double-digit cushion held for the remainder of the contest. The lead ballooned as large as 26 points with the Stags doubling up the Purple Eagles at 52-26. When the final horn sounded, all 14 active Stags had taken the court to contribute to the 73-53 home victory.
 
Sam Iorio led the Purple Eagles with 13 points, and Greg Kuakumensah contributed 11.
 
"Overall, I really liked our approach to the game today," said Young. "But now we move on to another tough opponent on Monday night."
 
Saturday's game marked the midway point of a six-game homestand for the Stags. Fairfield continues the residency at Webster Bank Arena on Monday against Canisius on 7 p.m.