POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball fell behind 23-8 to host Marist in the opening 10 minutes of Friday night's MAAC clash in Poughkeepsie as the Red Foxes converted their first 10 attempts from the field. But the Stags' defense clamped down and the offense heated up over the ensuing 30 minutes as Caleb Fields and TJ Long each scored 21 points to lead Fairfield to a 70-61 victory. Allan Jeanne-Rose joined Fields and Long in double figures with 11 points in the road triumph.
 
With the home-and-home sweep of Marist, Fairfield improves to 12-14 overall and an even 8-8 in the MAAC. The Red Foxes fall to 8-17 on the season and 4-12 in conference play.
 
For Long, the 20-point game was his second in a row after also netting 21 in Sunday's overtime win over Mount St. Mary's. The last Stag with back-to-back 20-pint games was Taj Benning, who scored 23 and 20, respectively, in MAAC wins over Quinnipiac and Saint Peter's in the 2020-21 season.
 
Fields' 21 points match his season high established in the November win over Evansville.
 
"They came out blazing in the first half going 10-for-10 from the field, and we were lucky that TJ got us going, and that we were only down one at halftime," said Head Coach Jay Young. "Our defense hung in there through Marist's hot start and the really played well for the most part for the final 30 minutes. It was another gritty performance to stay focused when we were down, and we're glad to be heading back to campus with a win."
 
After Marist's 10-for-10 start, the Red Foxes were 13-for-44 for the remainder of the game to land at 42.6 percent from the field. Their eight three-pointers were the most by a MAAC opponent against the Stags this season, though they shot only 28.6 percent against the top three-point defense in the conference.
 
The Stags shot and even 50 percent from the field at 23-for-46 and made seven three-pointers on 13 attempts. Long went 3-for-4 from deep and Fields drained all three of his triple tries.
 
Supreme Cook scored seven points and hauled in a game-best 11 rebounds as the Stags held a 34-26 advantage on the boards. Jalen Leach also scored seven points, with James Johns Jr. adding two and Zach Crisler rounding out the scoring with a free throw.
 
In addition to his 21 points, Fields distributed a team-leading four assists and notched a pair of steals.
 
Marist rode its hot start shooting early as a Patrick Gardner three-pointer capped the 10-for-10 start for the Red Foxes to stake them to a 23-8 lead. At that point, however, the Fairfield defense clamped down as the offense began to hit its stride. Long shot 5-for-5 in the half, including all three of his attempts from deep, and a Fields' buzzer beating layup ran his total to 10 before the break as the Stags trimmed all the way down to 32-31. Defensively, the Stags limited Marist to just four of their last 15 tries from the floor over the final 11 minutes of the period.
 
Fields had the first points of the second half as well to put the Stags in front for the first time at 33-32. Cook added a pair of buckets and Fields canned a three-pointer to make it a 9-0 run (11-0 including the final play of the first half) and extend the lead to 40-32 just over two minutes into the period. Marist responded to cut the lead to one, but Long answered with a layup to spark another 6-0 spurt that stretched the margin back to 46-39. The Red Foxes final push saw Gardiner hit a trey to make it a one-possession game, but Leach promptly answered with a triple on the other end to quell the run. The Fairfield lead soon grew to double figures and the Stags hit nine of their last 10 free throws to close out the 70-61 win.
 
Gardiner, who entered the day as the MAAC's leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, paced Marist with 13 points. Noah Harris and Javon Cooley each netted 11 points.
 
The Stags return home to Leo D. Mahoney Arena to challenge Manhattan on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a pivotal MAAC clash. The Jaspers fell at Iona tonight, 71-60, to fall to 9-15 overall and 7-8 in conference action.