FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A national television audience and a raucous crowd was treated to an instant classic on Thursday evening at Leo D. Mahoney Arena as Deon Perry swished home a 70-foot buzzer beater to propel Fairfield University Men's Basketball past visiting Marist, 59-56, live on ESPNU. Perry finished with a game-high 19 points in the victory.
 
"Of course, a lot of the attention will rightfully go to that last shot, but that was a great college basketball game," said Head Coach Chris Casey. "I was proud of our guys for continuing to fight and keeping their composure in some tough moments, and then Deon made a huge shot to win it."
 
With the win, Fairfield improves to 9-14 on the season and 5-7 in the MAAC. Marist slips out of first place in the MAAC with the loss and now sits at 9-2 in conference play as a part of a 16-4 overall mark.
 
Perry only scored three points in less than four minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. His buzzer beater capped a 16-point second half and ran his total to 19 points for the contest buoyed by three three-pointers.
 
Moments before Perry's miracle shot, he assisted on a bucket from Peyton Smith that tied the game for the 11th and final time at 56-56 with under 10 seconds to play. Marist held for the last shot and drew a foul as the potential game-winner was in the air but, with the Mahoney Arena crowd at a fever pitch, the Red Foxes missed both free throws. Louis Bleechmore corralled the rebound and called timeout, giving Fairfield an opportunity to avoid overtime with 1.1 seconds to play.
 
Perry took the in-bounds pass from Michael Rogan and released his 70-foot heave as time expired. The deep triple was Fairfield's first game-winner with all zeroes on the clock since Tyler Nelson sank Canisius with a three-pointer at the horn on Feb. 24, 2017 in Buffalo.
 
Prophet Johnson neared a double-double for the Stags with nine points and nine rebounds. Jamie Bergens also chipped in nine points, and Smith finished with eight including his game-tying bucket. Rounding out the scoring, Bleechmore had four points and five rebounds, Isaac Munkadi posted four points and eight boards, and Braden Sparks also kicked in four. Rogan added two to complete the 59-point effort.
 
As a unit, Fairfield shot 17-for-54 (31.5%) from the field, 4-for-14 (28.6%) from three-point range and 21-for-26 (80.8%) from the free throw line. The Stags were outrebounded, 44-34, but made up that margin with only four turnovers compared to 11 for the visiting Red Foxes.
 
Marist was led by 15 points and seven rebounds by Josh Pascarelli as well as 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists by Jadin Collins-Roberts.
 
Fairfield Men's Basketball is back in action and back at Mahoney Arena this Saturday, Feb. 8 for a 7 p.m. visit from Sacred Heart. Tickets for the first-ever MAAC game between the Stags and Pioneers are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.