ALBANY, N.Y. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball was on the short side of an offensive slugfest on Monday afternoon at Siena, falling to the host Saints by a score of 85-77.
Brandon Benjamin scored 20 points to lead four Stags scoring in double figures.
After today, the Stags stand at 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the MAAC. Siena improves to 13-7 with a 6-3 conference tally.
"We weren't at the level we needed to be at defensively," said Head Coach
Chris Casey. "I think our offense was getting the shots that we wanted for the most part, but we needed the stops and the transition opportunities that come from those stops to be in a position to win the game."
Benjamin's 20 points came on 10-for-11 shooting from the field. His lone miss was a three-pointer, as he shot a perfect 10-for-10 from inside the arc. The performance marked the first time that a Stag shot .900 or better from the floor with at least 10 made field goals was on Jan. 2, 2005 when DeWitt Maxwell shot 12-for-13 on his way to 26 points in a win over Iona. Benjamin also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
After a scoreless first half due to foul trouble,
Braden Sparks had all 18 of his tallies after the intermission. He knocked down three three-pointers, running his season total to a conference-leading 60 makes from downtown.
Declan Wucherpfennig added 12 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists, and
Tony Williams had an even 10 points while dishing out a team-leading four helpers.
Halon Rawlins fell just shy of joining his four teammates in double figures, finishing with nine points. Off the bench,
Deuce Turner scored five points and
Eric Mejia netted three.
Both offenses were on display, with the Stags shooting 29-for-58 (.500) from the field, while Siena was 31-for-46 (.674) on the day. The Stags' last loss when shooting at least .500 from the floor was also their last visit to MVP Arena – a 68-64 setback on March 6, 2025.
There were seven lead changes and four ties in the first half, the last of which settled at 16-16 on a pair of Wucherpfennig free throws. Siena was the team that broke the deadlock on a 9-4 stretch. A Mejia three-pointer cut the margin back to two points at 27-25, but Fairfield was never within one possession again as the Saints netted the next six points and pushed the deficit to 41-32 going into the half.
After the break, the Saints stretched their lead to 14 points – 56-42 with an even 14:00 to play. The Stags made a push on a Wucherpfennig three-point pay and a Benjamin layup. After two Siena free throws, Turner nailed a three-pointer by the Saints answered with a Brendan Coyle triple. Williams offered the response for the Stags from downtown, but Coyle and Siena matched it again, then added two more buckets to take a 68-53 lead. The Stags continued to put points on the board – including eight from Sparks in the final three minutes of a furious rally – but Siena did its part offensively to keep Fairfield at arm's length and close out the 85-77 final.
Gavin Doty led all scorers with 24 points on 9-for-9 shooting for the Saints. Justice Shoats added 21 points and Coyle finished with 19 – including four three-pointers.
Up next, action returns to Mahoney Arena when the Stags host Niagara on Thursday, Jan. 22 and Canisius on Saturday, Jan. 24. Both contests tip-off at 7 p.m.
