THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball makes the longest remaining road trip of the 2024-25 season, heading down to Emmitsburg, Md. for a MAAC clash at The Mount on Sunday, Dec. 8. Opening tip-off at Knott Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
Peyton Smith tipped in the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left to send Fairfield to a 78-75 win over visiting Rider in the MAAC opener on Wednesday at Mahoney Arena. Deon Perry led three Stags in double figures with 19 points in the victory.

Smith's game-winner came on a tip-in with the score tied at 75-75. Prophet Johnson drove to the lane and saw his reverse layup rim out, but Smith elevated and sent it home to secure the win. The tip-in was Fairfield's 18th offensive rebound of the day and the last two of the Stags' 12 second-chance points.

Louis Bleechmore also had a key bucket down the stretch, draining his fourth three-pointer of the day to stake Fairfield to a 75-72 lead. Bleechmore was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc on his way to 16 points.
 
Perry provided the offense in the first half, netting 16 of his 19 during the opening 20 minutes. Last year's Patriot League scoring champion at Loyola Maryland finished his highest scoring game as a Stag to date at 7-for-14 from the field with four three-pointers.
 
A total of nine Stags contributed to the scoring, Johnson adding eight points along with five assists. Kyle Jenkins chipped in six points, Jamie Bergens had five points with five helpers, Braden Sparks scored four, Birima Seck netted three and Isaac Munkadi had two on a rim-rattling dunk.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE RIDER GAME
"Every MAAC game is important, and you really need to protect your home court in this league. So I'm glad we could come out and fight and make one more play than Rider did to come away with a home win."

BUZZER BEATERS
Peyton Smith's tip-in with 1.6 seconds to go in the win over Rider was the Stags' latest game-winning basket when tied or trailing since Caleb Fields' layup to knock off Sacred Heart, 61-59, with 0.9 seconds left on Dec. 7, 2022 at Mahoney Arena.

THE MOUNT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS
Entering their Friday evening MAAC opener at Marist, the Mount is 5-2 on the young season. First-year head coach Donny Lind's squad boasts November wins over Bucknell, Saint Francis, Delaware State, Howard and Division III Notre Dame of Maryland. Their setbacks have both been of the high-major variety, falling at Maryland and Georgetown.

Dallas Hobbs has paced the Mount offenseively with 14.4 points per game as one of four scoring in double figures. Terrell Ard Jr. has added 12.1 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Fairfield's 16-point comeback last March in Emmitsburg completed a season sweep of the Mount and ran the Stags' lead to 4-1 in the all-time series with four consecutive victories.

Prior to The Mount joining the MAAC, Fairfield had challenged them just once before. The 80-68 win for Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3, 1949 was only the eighth game in the Stags' varsity history, occurring two months after incumbent Harry S Truman was re-elected President of the United States. Per the Mount St. Mary's student newspaper, the game was a home contest for the Mount despite being played in Danbury, Connecticut.

STAYING (SOMEWHAT) CLOSE TO HOME
Due to the unbalanced MAAC schedule this year, Fairfield will not make the "Buffalo Trip" to Canisius and Niagara. After this weekend's trek to Emmitsburg, the Stags' longest remaining road swing will be the roughly 175-mile journey to Merrimack on Jan. 3 for Fairfield's first visit to North Andover since 1958.

UP NEXT
After Sunday's game at The Mount, the Stags resume the non-league schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at Mahoney Arena against CCSU.