After taking down rival Sacred Heart in the season opener, the Stags looked to continue their winning ways on the road against Rutgers in New Brunswick, NJ on Monday night.
The Scarlet Knights were coming off an opening day overtime loss to Princeton.
Playing in front of 3,800 fans at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, the Stags went toe-to-toe with their Big East opponents for the better part of the first half.
Senior forward Warren Edney came out firing with the first six points for the Stags. He finished with eleven points in the first half, unfortunately Rutgers took a 35-27 advantage into the break.
Rutgers came out with an 8-2 run to open the second half. Sophomore guard, Colin Nickerson, answered with a pair of three point shots, however Fairfield was not able to get enough stops to make a real run at what would have been an impressive road victory.
The Stags tried to mount several rallies throughout the final twenty minutes, but fell short by a final tally of 68-53.
Sophomore guard, Derek Needham, led the Stags with fourteen points, while Edney finished his contest with twelve. Nickerson and senior Yorel Hawkins each chipped in with six points.
Rutgers was led by a comparable balanced attack. Jonathan Mitchell had a team-high of fifteen points, with Mike Coburn and Dane Miller contributing fourteen and twelve points. The victory was the first under the tutelage of first-year head coach Mike Rice for the Scarlet Knights.
While head coach Ed Cooley and the rest of the Stags came up short on this occasion, the early season road test against a Big East foe can only help in the long run. Fairfield faces similar demanding match-ups on the road as they visit the likes of Penn State University and the University of Florida in the near future.
The Stags will look to push their record over .500 when they visit the Nittany Lions of Penn State this Friday, Nov 19. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
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