THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball hosts the first-ever MAAC game between the Stags and crosstown Sacred Heart on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. with the Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis '79 on the call for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+.

TICKETS
Tickets for Saturday night's game are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX. Current Fairfield students can claim their free ticket with the Super Stags App.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS

• White Out
• Halftime performance: Brooke Neilson - Chair Stacking
• Battle of the Stags Winner Recognition - For more information on Battle of the Stags contact the Recreation Department

LAST TIME OUT
A national television audience and a raucous crowd was treated to an instant classic on Thursday evening at Mahoney Arena as Deon Perry swished home a 70-foot buzzer beater to propel Fairfield past visiting Marist, 59-56, live on ESPNU. Perry finished with a game-high 19 points in the victory.

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.
 
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 and Isaac Munkadi posted four points and eight boards.

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.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE MARIST GAME
"Of course, a lot of the attention will rightfully go to that last shot, but that was a great college basketball game. 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."

THE SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY PIONEERS
Sacred Heart is 6-5 in its first season in the MAAC as a part of a 10-12 overall record. The Pioneers have won four straight games, most recently downing Rider by an 89-77 count on Thursday evening at the Pitt Center. Sacred Heart's non-conference wins came over New Hampshire, CCSU, Boston U. and Division III Manhattanville.

Sacred Heart is the MAAC's highest scoring offense, averaging 76.3 points per game overall and a league-best 79.0 points per game in conference outings. Tanner Thomas leads that effort with 15.5 points per game as one of three Pioneers ranked among the MAAC's top-20 scorers.

Sacred Heart also leads the conference in three-pointers made and attempted as well as three-point percentage. Three Pioneers are shooting better than 45% from beyond the arc, though no individual is among the MAAC's top-10 in made triples.

Mekhi Conner tops the league with 6.2 assists per game.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Stags are 10-0 all-time against Sacred Heart dating back to 2007. The three most recent meetings marked the only times that either squad has ventured to the other's campus (or met within the Town of Fairfield), as six of the prior meetings were held at Webster Bank Arena in addition to a neutral site contest at Mohegan Sun Arena in 2010.

Fairfield and Sacred Heart were slated to meet at Alumni Hall during the 2020-21 campaign, but the game was canceled due to Covid-19 protocols within the SHU program.

STAGS VS. THE STATE
Including this season's games against Yale, CCSU and Quinnipiac, Fairfield is 119-79 all-time against Connecticut opponents.

STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Fairfield will play four of its last eight regular season games at Mahoney Arena, and five of the remaining eight within the state of Connecticut.

BUZZER BEATERS, CLOSE GAMES AND OTHER RELEVANT INFO
Deon Perry's 70-foot buzzer beater on Thursday was Fairfield's second game-winner in the closing seconds this season. Previously, Peyton Smith tipped in the winning bucket with 1.6 seconds to go in the Dec. 4 win over Rider.

Prior to this season, the Stags' last game-winning basket with under one second left was Caleb Fields' layup to knock off Sacred Heart, 61-59, with 0.9 seconds left on Dec. 7, 2022 at Mahoney Arena.

The last Fairfield game-winner with all zeroes on the clock was Tyler Nelson's three-pointer from near midcourt to sink Canisius in Buffalo on Feb. 24, 2017.

Unofficially, the basket was the longest game-winning shot in Fairfield Men's Basketball history (and possibly the longest made basket overall in program history). Unscientific research says that the last Stags' game-winner from beyond half court was delivered by Marvin Walters to beat host Manhattan, 108-105, in triple overtime on Feb. 27, 1988.

Fairfield's last win when trailing in the final minute was an overtime victory over The Mount on Feb. 12, 2023, when the Stags scored the last seven points of regulation before getting the win in the extra session.

Fairfield had not won in regulation after trailing in the last minute since Dec. 8, 2022, when Caleb Fields had the game-tying and game-winning baskets to down Sacred Heart, 61-59. Coincidentally, the Stags also scored the last seven points of regulation in that contest.

UP NEXT
The Stags hit the road for a rematch of the 2024 MAAC Championship Game and a Valentine's Day clash at Saint Peter's at 7 p.m.

Action returns to Mahoney Arena on the following Sunday, Feb. 16 as the Stags host Manhattan at 2 p.m.