EMMITSBURG, Md. – Faced with a 16-point halftime deficit on Saturday at Mount St. Mary's, Fairfield University Men's Basketball scored the first 14 points after the intermission and eventually overtook the hosts to earn a thrilling 96-92 victory. The victory secured the first 20-win season for the Stags since the 2011-12 campaign as well as the second seed in the upcoming MAAC Championship.
 
At 20-11, Fairfield posts the eighth 20-win season in program history. The Stags' 14-6 conference mark is the best since finishing 15-3 in the 2010-11 season. As the second-seeded team in the MAAC Championship, the Stags will take the court in Atlantic City on Wednesday, March 13 at 9 p.m. against either seventh-seeded Iona or 10th-seeded Manhattan.
 
"What a great college basketball game. Credit to Mount St. Mary's for how hard and how well they played," said Interim Head Coach Chris Casey. "I am incredibly proud of the way we came back to win. Nobody on our sideline doubted for a second that we had the ability to come back, and that's the way we've played all year. Relentless belief in ourselves and each other. We can't wait to get down to Atlantic City and compete for a championship."
 
Fairfield's season-best 96 points tops the 94 scored in last month's win over The Mount at Mahoney Arena. Jalen Leach paced that effort, matching his personal career high with 29 points. Brycen Goodine followed up on his 37-point outburst on Thursday with a 25-point game tonight. His total included four three-pointers to move into the single-season top-10 with 75 triples.

Caleb Fields also advanced his standing on that list, draining three treys for a MAAC-high 94 this season. He is one triple behind Ferron Flavors' second-place total of 95 and 10 short of matching Tyler Nelson's program record of 104. Fields finished the day with 17 points.
 
Also reaching double figures were Alexis Yetna with 11 and Jasper Floyd with 10, marking the third time that five Stags reached double figures in a game this season. Yetna also reeled in a team-leading nine rebounds.
 
Louis Bleechmore and Birima Seck rounded out the scoring with two points apiece. Leach and Goodine were Fairfield's top facilitators with four assists each.
 
As a unit, Fairfield shot 31-for-65 (47.7%) from the field, 13-for-34 (38.2%) from three-point range and 21-for-22 (95.5%) from the free throw line. The performance from the stripe was the Stags' best since an identical 21-for-22 day in a win over Quinnipiac in the 2018 MAAC Championship Semifinals.
 
Defensively, Fairfield forced 21 Mount turnovers, including 15 in the second half to facilitate the comeback. Included in that number were three steals for Jasper Floyd to break the Fairfield single-season record. Floyd's 75 thefts this season top the 74 takeaways by Kyle Commodore in the 1998-99 season. Floyd leads the MAAC and is among the nation's best with 2.4 steals per contest.
 
Leach and Fields each had four steals as well, with Yetna nabbing three steals. He also aided the defensive effort down low with two blocked shots.
 
Mount St. Mary's blistered the nets for 13 first-half three-pointers, shooting 19-for-29 (65.5%) from the floor overall in the frame to build a 54-38 halftime lead. The Mount finished at 60.3% from the floor and 60% from distance. De'Shayne Montgomery made his final bid for MAAC Rookie of the Year with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Mount. Dakota Leffew added 19 and Joshua Reaves canned six three-pointers to aggregate 18 points.
 
More information on the 2024 MAAC Championship will be announced on FairfieldStags.com as it is finalized.