The Fairfield University men’s basketball team defeated the Sacred Heart Pioneers 92-87 on their ten-minute-long road trip this evening. With this win, the Stags improve to 14-10 overall and 7-7 in the MAAC; the Pioneers fall to 10-15 and 6-8 in the conference.
Making good use of the first half, the Stags quickly amassed a 15-5 lead within the first five minutes of the contest. Leading the offensive drive were first-year forwards Brandon Benjamin and Declan Wucherpfennig, and senior guard Braden Sparks.
Benjamin led the contest with a career-defining performance, scoring 26 points and picking up 15 rebounds to round out his 11th double-double. Leading the MAAC in rebounds, Benjamin landed the finishing blow against the Pioneers with a rebound and putback. Benjamin credited his success tonight to “just staying patient, really.”
Head coach Chris Casey is not surprised by how dominant the first-year has become. “He’s just a warrior, you know. He’s a team guy,” Casey shared. “When you watch him play, you see he gets payback for the work he puts in.”
In the intimate Pitt Center, the Stags fended off a hungry crowd and shut down Sacred Heart’s MAAC-best offensive efficiency, holding them to just eight assists in the first half and keeping the Pioneers’ three-point game under wraps for the first 15 minutes. The six-minute mark in the first half was the sign of a changing tide, as the Pioneers found success behind the arc and went 5-11 to close out the half trailing 47-38.
The bench played crucial minutes for the Stags, accounting for 18 of the 47 points scored within the first 20 minutes, and 24 overall. Graduate guard Deuce Turner contributed 10 points, while redshirt junior forward Ryan Zan had five boards and seven points himself.
Sparks, playing all 40 minutes of the contest, added 21 points of his own while going 5-7 from behind the arc and contributing five assists. “He knows I want him to go make plays, especially on the offensive end. And he does that,” Casey said of Sparks. “He takes the right shots, he leads. He makes my job a lot easier.”
Despite getting caught up in foul trouble, Wucherpfennig managed to support the Stags with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
The second half of action featured a Pioneer run that closed the gap to just one point by the last minute. Adding 49 points to their total, the Pioneers outscored the Stags in the frame and fed off the momentum shift. Spectators revved up at the first sign of a comeback and refused to let the Stags move on quickly from some unfortunate plays.
Finally icing out the Pioneers with two free-throws and a defensive effort to kill the clock, the Stags walked away victorious.
“That’s just a great win in a very difficult place to play against a very good team. We fought through some foul trouble, got some good minutes off the bench, and we made just enough plays to win the game,” said Casey. “I think these last three games we played – at Iona, Quinnipiac at home, and this one on the road – these are MAAC Tournament type games. It sharpens us to play games like that.
The Stags return to action at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Saturday night against Marist. Tipoff is at 7 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.