EMMITSBURG, Md. – A matchup of the top two defenses in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play lived up to its billing on Thursday as Fairfield University Men's Basketball held off host Mount St. Mary's, 63-60.
Allan Jeanne-Rose led the way offensively with 16 points in the Stags' fourth consecutive win.
"Mount St. Mary's played hard, and I thought our guys really played hard tonight too," said Head Coach
Jay Young. "Like so many games in this league, we knew that it would come down to who made plays at the end, and I'm proud of our guys for making a few more plays than [The Mount] did."
With the win, the Stags even their record at 10-10 and improve to 6-4 in the MAAC. Fairfield has won four consecutive MAAC regular season games for the first time since the last four outings of the 2017-18 conference slate. MAAC newcomer Mount St. Mary's falls to 7-14 overall and 3-7 in league play.
Jeanne-Rose's 16 points were comprised of a 5-for-5 day from the field and a 6-for-7 showing at the free throw line.
TJ Long also netted double figures with 10 points, and
Supreme Cook was just shy of a double-double with nine points and a game-best 11 rebounds.
Jalen Leach also scored nine points, with
Zach Crisler canning a pair of treys to tally six points and
Caleb Fields also scoring six.
Fields and Jeanne-Rose also had three assists apiece, with Fields also shining defensively with four steals. In total, the Stags forced 17 Mount St. Mary's turnovers that led to 20 Fairfield points.
Rounding out the scoring,
Jake Wojcik netted five points and
Chris Maidoh scored two.
The Stags played from in front for the opening stretch of action, though never by more than four points. The squads traded the lead five times over the net stretch, culminating with a Dakota Leffew three-pointer with 5:24 to go in the half. But that trey to put the Mount on top, 24-23, proved to be the host's final field goal of the period. The Stags conceded only four free throws for the rest of the frame while getting five points from Long, a Leach layup and a Jeanne-Rose dunk to surge in front and take a 32-28 lead into the break.
The Mount struck first out of the locker room with a Benjamin three-pointer, but the Stags accounted for the game's next seven points to open up the largest lead of the day at 39-31 less than two minutes into the half. Mount St. Mary's rallied with 12-3 run, capped by a George Tinsley three-pointer to gain a 45-44 lead. That advantage was again short-lived, however, as Long responded with a trey to put the Stags back on top, 47-45, with 12:06 to go. Long added two more on a layup, then Jeanne-Rose got to the rim for another deuce to extend the lead to 51-45.
The hosts made one more run with an 8-1 spurt to regain the advantage at 53-52 before Jeanne-Rose went 4-of-4 on a pair of trips to the stripe to tip the scales back toward Fairfield, 56-53. The squads traded buckets as the clock crept under three minutes followed by a pair of big stops for the Fairfield defense to maintain a 59-57 lead into the final minute. Leach calmly hit a pair from the line, which proved pivotal as Tinsley got the roll on a quick three, cutting the margin to 61-60 with 34 seconds to play. After Fields knocked down a free throw, the Stags forced Mount St. Mary's to commit their 17th and most crucial turnover of the game as an errant pass gave possession back to Fairfield with 14 ticks left on the clock. Wojcik added a free throw to extend the cushion to 63-60 and the Mount's final attempt to tie hit the side of the backboard as time expired on Fairfield's fourth consecutive win.
Leffew led all players with 19 points, including 15 of the Mount's 28 in the first half. Jalen Benjamin had 11 points and eight assists for the hosts, with Tinsley chipping in 10 points.
The Stags are back in action and back at Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Sunday, Jan. 29 to host Rider at 2 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.
Rider enters the weekend at 9-9 overall and 6-3 in the MAAC. The Broncs will play at Marist on Friday evening before visiting Fairfield on Sunday.
