FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Deon Perry's four free throws in the final 17 seconds capped a season-best 22 points for the junior and sealed a 68-64 win for Fairfield University Men's Basketball over visiting Iona on Friday evening at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Perry's final buckets also brought his career total to an even 1,000 points.
With the win, Fairfield moves to 6-9 on the season and 2-2 in the MAAC. Iona slips to 5-11 on the year with a 2-3 conference mark. The Stags, who also bested the Gaels in the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals last season, have now earned consecutive wins over Iona for the first time in the last 19 meetings with the perennial conference contenders.
"That was our most complete defensive game of the season," said Head Coach
Chris Casey. "And it wasn't a new scheme or doing anything different. We were tough and we executed and that's what drove us to a win tonight."
The Stags' defense limited Iona to 64 points on 37.3% shooting from the field and 22.2% shooting from three-point range while forcing 17 turnovers – all stats that mark team bests against a MAAC opponent thus far in 2024-25.
Offensively, Perry's 22 points came on 7-for-10 shooting from the field. He was true on both of his three-point attempts and went 6-for-6 from the stripe. Fourteen of his game-high output came in the second half. Perry – the Patriot League's leading scorer last season – scored 878 points in two seasons at Loyola Maryland and has netted 122 thus far in his first campaign as a Stag to reach an even 1,000 points and counting.
Also netting double figures was
Michael Rogan with 11 points. Rogan, who entered the starting lineup for the first time this season, went 3-for-5 from three-point range en route to his 11 points.
Braden Sparks had 10 points and a team-leading seven rebounds.
Jamie Bergens chipped in eight points for the Stags and was also Fairfield's top facilitator with four assists.
Prophet Johnson added seven points,
Louis Bleechmore had six and
Peyton Smith pitched in four.
As a unit, the Stags were just shy of 50% from the floor at 23-for-48 (47.9%). Fairfield shot 6-for-19 (31.6%) from downtown and 16-for-19 (84.2%) from the charity stripe.
After the Stags took a 34-30 lead into the half, Iona came out of the locker room with an 11-4 spurt to take a 41-38 lead with 14:50 left. Perry responded with a three-pointer to tie the game for the seventh and final time, and then Johnson got to the rim off a Bergens steal – finishing through contact – to stake the Stags to a lead they would not relinquish, 43-41, with 12:20 to play. That sequence started the Stags on a 13-2 run culminating with a Bleechmore transition bucket that ran the margin to 51-43.
As time ticked away, Iona made a final push culminating with a Yaphet Moundi layup with 20.2 seconds left that cut the score all the way down to 64-62 in favor of the Stags. Perry was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and made both free throws, and the Gels answered with a coast-to-coast layup by Adam Njie Jr. Fairfield once again mitigated the Iona press and got the ball to Perry, who made two more from the ljne with 6.5 seconds left to put the finishing touches on a 68-64 win.
Njie had 18 points to lead Iona, with James Patterson adding 14 points and nine boards.
Up next, the Stags make the short turnaround and head to Marist for a Sunday, Jan. 12 outing in Poughkeepsie. The Red Foxes, who were off on Friday evening, are 11-2 on the season including a perfect 7-0 at McCann Arena and 4-0 in the MAAC.
