FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball went toe-to-toe with defending MAAC Champion Iona for much of Friday's conference opener at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. But the visiting Gaels kept the Stags at arm's length and made one late run to close out a 78-67 final.
Caleb Fields led the Stags with 21 points, including four three-pointers.
Fields' 21 points marked a season high for the graduate student, who also chipped in three rebounds and three assists.
Jasper Floyd added 17 on 8-for-12 shooting, and
Jalen Leach joined them in double figures with 12. As a unit, the Stags were 26-for-60 (43.8%) from the field, 8-for-26 (30.8%) from three-point range and 7-for-14 (50%) from the charity stripe.
The trio of
Louis Bleechmore,
Peyton Smith and
James Johns Jr. led the rebounding effort with five apiece as the Stags were clipped on the boards, 39-32. Fairfield, however, did gain a 19-12 advantage in second-chance points and also led in points in the paint, 32-30.
Iona's success started with its full court pressure, which forced the Stags into a season-high 17 turnovers. The Gaels turned those 17 miscues into 20 points, while Fairfield has eight points off of 15 Iona giveaways.
Leading the Gaels' offense was Wheza Panzo with a game-best 23 points fueled by a 7-for-13 performance from beyond the arc. Idan Tretout filled out his statsheet for Iona with 12 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
"We needed to make a few more shots and grab a few more rebounds tonight. I thought we got a good number of decent looks; if we make those and make our free throws, we could have given ourselves a chance to play from in front and dictate more of the game," said Interim Head Coach
Chris Casey. "We did well defensively on everybody except [Wheza] Panzo. You know he's going to get a couple, but we missed some switches and left him open too many times."
Fairfield limited Iona to just two points over the first 4:52 of action but could only build a 6-2 lead during that span. The Gaels scored the next seven to climb in front until a Johns three-pointer knotted the score at 13-13 with 10:30 left in the period. Five straight points from Leach briefly put the Stags back on top, 18-17, but Iona accounted for the next five and maintained the advantage for the rest of the half. Fields sliced the margin by three with a trey just before the first half horn, sending Fairfield into the intermission facing a 35-31 deficit.
A Floyd layup and another Fields triple opened the second half to push the Stags in front once again, 36-35, but Iona answered with a 10-2 run to open up a 45-38 advantage. The squads traded buckets for the next several minutes, which kept the Gaels clinging to their lead, before Fields, Floyd and Goodine each scored as a part of a 6-0 spurt to bring the Stags back within a possession at 52-49 with 9:05 left. However, Panzo responded with a three-pointer that quickly doubled the Iona advantage and the visitors soon pulled away out to a 70-54 lead with 3:14 remaining. The Stags never faded down the stretch, but the margin proved insurmountable as time expired on a 78-67 final.
Fairfield completes the opening weekend of MAAC play this Sunday, Dec. 3 at Rider. Opening tip from Lawrenceville is slated for 2 p.m. The Broncs are 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the MAAC after a 67-65 loss at Siena this evening.
Sunday's game marks the start of a three-game road swing for the Stags, which also brings Fairfield to in-state foes Yale (Dec. 6) and Sacred Heart (Dec. 9). Action returns to Mahoney Arena for a Sunday, Dec. 17 clash with Wagner.
