DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Caleb Fields set a new Fairfield University Men's Basketball single-season three-point record en route to 32 points to lift the Stags past Chicago State, 77-74, in the Ro College Basketball Invitational quarterfinals on Monday afternoon in Daytona Beach.
Matt Curtis added 15 points and
Jasper Floyd scored 13 for the Stags.
With the win, Fairfield improves to 24-12 on the season. The Stags can make the program record of 25 wins with a victory tomorrow. Chicago State – the lone Division I independent which will join the Northeast Conference next season – ends its campaign at 13-19.
"We stayed tough, we made just enough shots, and did enough to win it at the end," said Head Coach
Chris Casey. "Caleb was on tonight, so we kept going to him and he delivered. But Jasper also made some big plays and Lex hit a couple of key free throws. Another team win and we look forward to the chance to compete again as a team tomorrow."
Fields made six three-pointers this afternoon to run his season total to 109, surpassing the 104 treys converted by Tyler Nelson in his historic senior season of 2017-18. Fields' 32 points were one off his career high. He also hauled in five rebounds while playing all 40 minutes of the second straight game.
Curtis added a pair of triples to fuel his 15 points – the second straight double-digit scoring effort for Curtis following his career-high 19 points in Sunday's win over Little Rock. Floyd turned in another stuffed statsheet with 13 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. He boosted his own program single-season record to 87 thefts on the season.
Alexis Yetna neared a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds,
Louis Bleechmore scored four points,
Birima Seck netted three and
Peyton Smith added a pair.
The Cougars were led by 25 points from Wesley Cardet and 18 from A.J. Neal.
Fairfield will challenge the winner of the matchup between Evansvills and Seattle, currently in progress, in Tuesday's semifinal round. The game will air live on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. The other side of the bracket features High Point and Arkansas State, tipping off at 7 p.m.
The 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational Champion will be crowned on Wednesday, March 27 at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
