Coming into Sunday's semi-final match-up of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Men's basketball Tournament, the #1 seeded Fairfield University Stags were taking on #4 seeded Saint Peters College Peacocks at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, home of the Stags.
The pregame atmosphere was electric as most of the stands looked like a sea of red, full of supporters for their hometown team. The crowds excitement disappeared shortly after tip-off as the first half belong to the Peacocks. The Peacocks entered Sunday's game with the 2nd best scoring defense in the conference (60.4 ppg) right behind the Stags and made a statement early that they were a team to be reckoned with. The Peacocks defense out rebounded the Stags for the majority of the first half while forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. The Stags could not really recover and keep up with the fast paced tempo that the Peacocks were playing at and before they knew it, the Stags went into the locker room trailing 40-15.
With the anticipation of the 2nd half looming, the crowd grew anxious as they were awaiting their hometown Stags to take the floor for the warm-ups before the game commenced again. Coach Ed Cooley of the Stags must have gave one hell of a halftime speech as his team came out of the locker room as a unit with less than two minutes before the 2nd half started. The Stags looked as if they had found their swagger and confidence in the locker room because they went on a remarkable run in the beginning of the 2nd half.
The Stags opened the half with a 13-0 run through the first six minutes and brought themselves back within striking distance. Led by Colin Nickerson on defense, the Stags forced seven quick turnovers and scored on most of those turnovers. Listening to the crowd during the better portion of the 2nd half, they were cheering for every rebound, every blocked shot by Ryan Olander, and especially every basket scored in transition. Even Coach Cooley during timeouts would walk out onto the floor waving his arms in the air to try and get the fans to be louder. The crowd was so loud and into the game, I caught myself fist pumping for the Stags as well. To say that the crowd was electric at this point during the 13-0 run, would be an understatement. But the game was still far from over.
The next six minutes rolled by and the Stags had held the Peacocks to two points in the first 12 minutes of the 2nd half. That defensive effort showed why they were #1 in scoring defense for the conference (57.7 ppg). The Stags had climbed back to within six points of tying the game, but that was as close as they were going to get. The Peacocks found some rhythm offensively and scored enough points to keep the Stags at bay. Once the lead was back to double digits, the Stags became complacent and started shooting three pointers.
The final score of the game was 62-48 in favor the Saint Peters College Peacocks. Four players scored in double digits for the Peacocks as the Stags were led by Yorel Hawkins, who finished with 17 points. It was a truly exciting game to watch, but the first half deficit proved to be just too much for the Stags to overcome. The Peacocks move on to play in the MAAC Championship game Monday night at 7PM. The Stags season looks to be over as their NCAA tournament resume does not seem strong enough to get them in.
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