WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – A three-pointer from Marcus McClary went high off the glass and found the bottom of the net with 0.6 seconds to play as Fairfield University Men's Basketball was on the short side of a 59-56 decision on Friday evening at Monmouth. The Stags had trailed by as many as eight points in the second half before rallying to push the Hawks to the limit on their home court on the Jersey Shore.
 
"Obviously, it's difficult to lose a game on a shot like that. But we had 40 minutes to put ourselves in a better position to win, and we didn't do that," said Head Coach Jay Young. "I thought we battled and did pretty well defensively, but Monmouth did a good job as well of not letting us get into any sort of offensive rhythm, and they made one more play than we did."
 
The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for Fairfield (10-11, 4-6 MAAC) after picking up road wins at Marist and Rider on their current three-game road swing. Monmouth caps its four-game homestand with a win to improve to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
 
TJ Long came off the bench and led the Stags with 18 points, knocking down four three-pointers and also hauling in seven rebounds. The output was Long's best since netting a career-best 21 points against Loyola Maryland on Nov. 28.
 
Jesus Cruz, who twice tied the score in the final 80 seconds of the game, finished with 12 points to go along with six boards. Supreme Cook also reached double figures with 11 points and matched Long's team best of seven rebounds.
 
The Stags were mired by a slow start offensively, as Allan Jeanne-Rose's bucket 45 seconds in the contest represented Fairfield's only point for nearly seven minutes. Long stopped an 11-2 Monmouth run with a pair of three-pointers, and a Zach Crisler finish through contact brought the deficit back to one possession at 12-10.
 
Fairfield would climb back as a close as one point at 15-14 with seven minutes to go in the frame before a trio of George Papas three-pointers extended the margin back to 24-16. A baseline drive and dunk for Jeanne-Rose and a Jake Wojcik floater quelled the threat as the Stags went into the intermission on the short side of a manageable 26-21 tally.
 
Monmouth quickly extended the lead to eight points on a Walker Miller three-pointer to open the second half, before Cook accounted for the game's next five to cut the margin to 29-26. The Stags played from behind for the majority of the period, but never allowed the Hawks to score more than four consecutive points for the entirety of the half. Monmouth crept back out to a 47-40 lead with 7:24 to play, at which point Long canned a pair of free throws and Cruz knocked down a trey to carry the Stags back within one possession at 47-45.
 
Papas answered the bucket with a three-pointer of his own, but the next response went to Long, with a three-pointer to make it 50-48 in favor of the Hawks with 4:22 remaining. Less than one minute later, Long swished home another triple to stake Fairfield to its first lead since 2-0 at 51-50. Supreme Cook added a free throw, and then Nikkei Rutty sank a pair for Monmouth to tie the score at 52-52. Shavar Reynolds then hit a pair from the stripe to put the Hawks back on top, 54-52, as the clock ticked under two minutes.
 
After an empty trip each way, Cruz collected his own miss and put it home to tie the game at 54-54 with 1:1 left. The next possession for the Hawks resulted in more free throws for Reynolds, who was true on both tries to reclaim the advantage for the hosts at 56-54.
 
The Stags called on Cruz once again on their next possession, and Fairfield's all-time leader in games played answered the call with a bucket to knot the game for the eighth and final time at 56-56 with the shot clock turned off.
 
Monmouth held the ball for a final shot, which was McClary's contested look from deep. The friendly bounce was the Hawks' only field goal over the last five minutes of the game, though the Hawks went 6-for-6 from the stripe during that span. After the officiating crew put 0.6 seconds on the clock, the Stags could only muster a three-quarters-court heave that was on line but short as time expired on the 59-56 loss.
 
Papas led the Hawks with 18 points, managing just four points and one made field goal in the second half after a red-hot first stanza. Walker Miller added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Reynolds' perfect 6-for-6 day at the free throw line fueled his 13-point performance.
 
Friday's game was the first of a stretch of eight MAAC outings in 17 days for the Stags. The next six of those contests will be played at Webster Bank Arena, beginning with a 2 p.m. visit from Siena on Sunday, Feb. 6. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster and at the Webster Bank Arena box office.