ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – At this time of year, players who are playing their final collegiate season often play with a ferocity that can lift a team. Taj Benning, Jesus Cruz and Caleb Green are facing that scenario as they suit up for their final Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament. The trio paced the Stags with 44 points respectively, helping the Fairfield University men's basketball team earn a 72-50 win over Canisius College in a first-round game at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

Cruz set up shop in the paint and offered his baby hook and reverse layup as the tools that help bring down the Golden Griffs. Benning was effective both from the outside, hitting a pair of three-pointers, from the inside with a pair of field goals inside the paint, and from the free throw line by netting all four attempts. Green reached double figures with 10 points, six of which came in the second half. 

"Coach always tells us that it will never get better than this, being with your friends and playing college basketball," Cruz said. "We are extremely blessed to play and we don't want it to end so we are going to play our hardest knowing that every possession counts. I think we had that mentality and it showed how we played tonight."

"We know what's at stake and we love it here," Benning said. "We just want to keep playing ball with our boys so that's why we are playing with that sense of urgency. We don't want to stop playing for Fairfield."

The graduate students were responsible for 11 of the team's first 20 points which kick started a 20-9 start to the second half which took Fairfield's 11-point halftime lead and blew it up to a 22-point edge at 51-29 with 11 minutes remaining in the game.

The student-athletes had strong support from their teammates as well as all eight Fairfield student-athletes that saw action put points on the box score including 20 points from the reserves, namely Zach Crisler (eight points), Chris Maidoh (six points), and TJ Long (six points). Allan Jeanne-Rose pitched in with six points as he gained a starting nod this evening while Supreme Cook rounded out the statistics sheet with a pair of points from the free throw line.

Fairfield found its touch midway through the first half behind contributions from a couple of reserves. Jeanne Rose worked the inside by attacking the rim while Crisler added a soft touch from beyond the arc.

With Canisius just four points off the lead, Jeanne-Rose posted back-to-back layups that provided some separation that pushed the lead to 14-6 with just under 12 minutes remaining.  Crisler's two three pointers broke an early tie and then doubled the team's three point lead to six at 21-15 with 4:56 on the clock. The long-range basket touched off an 8-0 run that put the Stags in command at 26-15, a run that ended with a Taj Benning three-point field goal. Fairfield carried that same lead into the locker room at 31-20.

The Stags never looked back after opening the second half with that 20-9 run, scoring 12 straight points after Canisius' Armon Harried started the period with a basket. Green opened the run with a basket which Benning followed with a three pointer. Cruz added to the run with a pair of paint points while TJ Long netted a long-range three-point field goal before Maidoh finished the stretch with a layup.

Fairfield's biggest lead stood at 25 points with 7:27 remaining in the game when Cruz posted two points that brought the score to 59-34.

"Tonight was a credit to the team for how they grinded and beat a very good Canisius team that has been playing very well," Head Coach Jay Young said. "They are very tough to guard but I really loved the way our defense played against them. Our defense is our best offense. If we can get stops and rebound the ball, we can get out and run which leads to better shots. We were able to do that tonight. For us, it's always about defensive rebounding and that fuels our offense."

The Stags will meet second-seeded Saint Peter's University on Wednesday night for a quarterfinal game that tips at 9:30 pm. It will be the third time that these two teams will meet since February 18.