ATLANTIC CITY – Second-seeded Fairfield University Men's Basketball nearly erased a nine-point deficit in the final 3:47 of Saturday evening's MAAC Championship Game at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, but fifth-seeded Saint Peter's held off the late charge to take the win and the championship, 68-63. Caleb Fields and Jalen Leach were tabbed as the Stags' representatives on the MAAC All-Championship Team.
 
The setback concludes Fairfield's 2023-24 season with a record of 22-12. Saint Peter's will bring a 19-13 record into the NCAA Championship, where the Peacocks will represent the MAAC for the second time in three years.
 
"I'm really proud of our guys and proud of our season," said Head Coach Chris Casey. "I'm proud of the effort that they put in, proud of their togetherness, and proud of the young men they are outside of basketball. They're just an outstanding group of guys."
 
Fields scored 17 points to pace the Fairfield scoring while also hauling in nine rebounds and five assists. He finished the campaign with an even 100 three-pointers, joining Hall of Famer Tyler Nelson (104 in 2017-18) as the only two Stags to hit the century mark in a single-season from behind the arc. Fields concludes his collegiate career with 1,367 points, including 864 in two years as a Stag.
 
Alexis Yetna added a double-double in his final collegiate game with 12 points and a season-best 10 rebounds. Brycen Goodine was the third Stag in double figures with 10 points. To round out the scoring, Jalen Leach had eight, Jasper Floyd and Louis Bleechmore each netted six, James Johns Jr. had three and Peyton Smith scored one.
 
The Stags made the first run of the game – a 9-2 spurt that featured four points from Yetna and was punctuated by a Fields transition three-pointer – to take a 19-11 lead midway through the first half. The Peacocks drew back within three points before another 7-0 stretch grew the Stags' lead to what would be its largest of the evening at 29-19. Saint Peter's scored the next six to shrink the gap before the break, but Yetna had the frame's final bucket with a tip-in that sent Fairfield into the locker room in front, 32-25.
 
A fast start to the second half grew the lead back to 10 points at 39-29 with 17:25 left, but the Peacocks responded yet again with a 14-2 run to take the lead, 43-41. That spurt started a run in which Saint Peter's made its last nine field goal attempts of the game, culminating in a 61-52 lead with 3:47 to go.
 
At that point, the Peacocks would not officially attempt a shot from the floor for the remainder of the game as the Stags' defense began to swarm. First, Fields came away with a steal and was fouled, converting both tries to cut the deficit to 61-54. Then Leach came away with a swipe and laid it up to make it a five-point game with 3:19 left.
 
After a Yetna steal led to an empty Fairfield possession, the graduate student nabbed another loose ball on the next SPU trip that led to a Goodine layup that trimmed the margin to 61-58 with 1:41 left, including a Saint Peter's timeout.
 
Out of the stoppage, the Peacocks drew a foul but missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing Goodine the convert again on the other end to make it a 61-60 game with 1:19 remaining. Saint Peter's made two free throws on the next possession, got a stop, and then split a pair to rebuild a 64-60 lead as the clock ticked under one minute to go.
 
After Casey and the Stags took a timeout, Fields drove the lane and got a tough layup to fall through contact, completing the and-one opportunity to shave the margin to 64-63. Saint Peter's once again drew a foul and this time made both free throws. With the Stags trailing 66-63, Floyd got a clean but contested look from three-point range that wouldn't fall, and Saint Peter's made two clinching free throws on the other end to close out the 68-63 final.
 
"I'm proud of our guys, there was no quit in them almost coming all the way back. Saint Peter's just made a few more plays than we did," noted Casey. "Congratulations to them on an outstanding season."
 
Championship MVP Corey Washington led all scorers with 24 points and hauled in nine rebounds.
 
Fields collected All-Championship honors after averaging 19.7 points 6.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in Fairfield's run to the final round. Leach posted 14.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest in the three-game stay in Atlantic City.
 
Fairfield's 22 wins were the most since the 2011-12 campaign, and the 14-6 conference record was the Stags' best since a 15-3 tally in the 2010-11 season.