After a demoralizing Senior Day loss to Mount St. Mary\u2019s last Sunday that forced them to play an extra game and two days earlier in this week\u2019s MAAC Championships, Fairfield men\u2019s basketball was determined to right the ship.<\/p>\n
They did so on Thursday night, as they rode a 14-2 run out of the halftime break to knock off the Manhattan Jaspers 71-60 and book a spot in Friday\u2019s quarterfinal round.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat loss pushed us to want to win even more,\u201d said first-year guard Tony Williams<\/a>. \u201cWe had won three straight, and I think we kind of took that game lightly. So we really just had to sit down and talk with each other and say that we came here for it all. We didn\u2019t just come here to win one game, two games. We came here to win it all.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stags got contributions up and down the lineup in response. First-year forward Declan Wucherpfennig<\/a> continued his recent dominance on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds. Williams\u2019 11 points put him in a quartet of double digit scorers that also included sophomore guard Eric Mejia<\/a>, who had 10 off the bench.<\/p>\n In his return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench Sunday as part of a post-injury ramp up, first-year forward Brandon Benjamin<\/a> finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Leading the Stags in scoring was ever-reliable senior guard Braden Sparks<\/a>, who overcame a poor shooting start to end the contest with 17 points and five assists.<\/p>\n \u201cI would just say everybody on the team, the staff, they give me unlimited confidence, whether I\u2019m making shots, missing shots, turning the ball over, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Sparks said. \u201cEveryone playing, they tell me to keep being myself, and I think that just keeps my head straight.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just Sparks who struggled early in the game. As a team, the Stags shot just 34 percent from the field and 27 percent from deep in a physical, back and forth first half, stymied by a variety of zone looks from the Jaspers defense.<\/p>\n Still, a strong defensive effort of its own helped Fairfield maintain a 31-27 halftime advantage. Then, it was the flurry in the opening five minutes of the second frame, which included threes from Sparks and Mejia and a pair of interior scores from Benjamin, that quickly put the Jaspers on the back foot for the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n Even beyond the second half offensive bounce back, the Stags flipped the physicality of the game in their favor, finishing with advantages in rebounding, second chance points and turnovers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe emphasized [physicality] coming into the game. We thought that would be very important, and talking about putting our bodies on the line, that\u2019s part of it,\u201d said head coach Chris Casey<\/a>. \u201cRebounding the ball, coming up with 50-50 rebounds, 50-50 loose balls, and I thought for the most part we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n