Stags trip up Peacocks 70-43

Entering Sunday's MAAC contest, the Fairfield Stags were number five in the nation in scoring defense, giving up only 54.7 points per contest. Sunday would be no different, as Fairfield once again proved why they are one of the feistiest defenses in the nation.

Entering the game St. Peter's College was 3-1 in the MAAC, and were set to be Fairfield's toughest conference matchup yet, and coming off a 70-52 loss to Iona it was thought to be a battle. Both teams came slow out of the gate and Nick Leon for St. Peter's led all scorers with seven. The Stags had only shot the ball 10 times up to that point and had turned the ball over three times, two by point guard Derek Needham. The Stags led though 12-11. After the media timeout though the Stags would put some breathing room in between the two. The Stags would end the half with eight different players scoring, led by Needham who had seven, and the front court of Maurice Barrow and Ryan Olander each having six of their own. At this point the Stags had a 35-21 lead, and held the leading scorer of the Peacocks Leon to only two more points since the media timeout at 10:55.

The second half would be dominated by the Stags on both the offensive and defensive end. Offensively the two headed attack of strength and speed (Olander and Needham) would score 15 and 16 respectively. The balance of half court offense and high tempo kept St. Peter's uneasy the entire half. Olander would finished up with 12 rebounds also, while Needham dished out four assists. The supporting cast of the Stags was no pushover either as shooting guard Colin Nickerson caught fire scoring nine of his own, and Barrow powered for eight. This made up for second leading scorer Yorel Hawkins not playing the second half with a leg injury, he is day to day.

Despite the impressive offense, the story of the year has been the defense and Sunday this was no different. St. Peters would only score 43 points and shoot a poor 25% from the floor, 16% in the second half. The Stags stole the ball eight times, and blocked seven Peacock shots (3 by Olander). Leon was held without a point in the second half and end with those nine points. Coming into the game Leon was the leading scorer of the team, putting in just over 10. Leon and the Peacocks would turn the ball over 16 times.

The Fairfield Stags lowered their average to 53.9 points per game and will hit the road for four conference games starting with Loyola on Friday night.