Box Score JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Chazz Patterson (Brown Mills, N.J./Trenton Catholic) drained a 3-pointer to give Saint Peter's the lead for good early in the second half and then sealed the win at the free throw line in the final minute while Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, Pa./Math, Civics and Science Charter) posted 13 of his 20 points in the second half to power the Peacocks past Fairfield 72-68 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball action on Saturday. With the win, Saint Peter's will be the either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament.
Patterson gave the Peacocks (13-14, 12-8 MAAC) the lead for good on a trey two minutes and 23 seconds into the second half. The junior then made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 25 seconds to help seal the victory. Patterson finished the game with 10 points for his third-straight double-figure performance and his sixth in his last eight games.
Welton followed up his 18 points and 10 rebound performance at Manhattan on Tuesday with 20 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday. The junior helped the Jersey City team maintain the lead after Patterson's trey with 13 points and seven boards in the second half. The junior finished the day shooting 8 of 13 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line for his second career 20-point performance. Welton also notched his 10th double-double of the season and the 12th of his career.
With the win, Saint Peter's is guaranteed to wear its white jersey in the first game of the tournament. If Quinnipiac downs Siena on Sunday, the Peacocks will be the No. 3 seed and play the winner of the 6/11 game on Saturday at 7 p.m. If the Saints are victorious against the Bobcats, it would set up a third meeting against Fairfield in the MAAC Tournament for the fourth-straight year in the 4/5 game on Saturday on 9:30 p.m.
While eyes were on seeding for the MAAC Tournament, the afternoon also belonged to senior Elias Desport (Stockholm, Sweden/Solna Gymnasium) who was playing his final collegiate game at the Yanitelli Center. The senior was honored before the game and then posted a season-high 12 points along with seven rebounds. Desport, who had a career-high 13 points last year at Seton Hall, posted 10 of his 12 points in the first half.
"I was trying to play with a free mind and trying to enjoy the moment," said Desport. "I'm going to miss this environment. They say it's clinched, but I saved the best for last."
Tyler Nelson paced the Stags (18-12, 12-8 MAAC) with 25 points while Matija Milin added 16 points and Jerome Segura chipped in 13 points in the loss that ended a six-game winning streak for the Fairfield program.
Saint Peter's led for most of the game, Fairfield seemed to hang around and always seemed to put the game in doubt before the Peacocks held on for it seventh win in the last eight meetings.
Patterson gave Saint Peter's the lead for good on a trey with 17:37 left in the game, but the game still anyone's to win in the final three minutes.
After Welton gave the Peacocks a 63-58 lead with 3:34 left, Fairfield scored the next four points to cut the margin to 63-62 after two free throws by Milin at 3:17 and a layup by Segura at 2:14. Welton then answered with a traditional 3-point play to extend the lead back to four points with 1:52 remaining only to see Segura drain a trey 18 seconds later.
Taking a play out of Welton's playbook, Trevis Wyche (Neptune, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) responded with a traditional 3-point play with 40 seconds left. After a Fairfield offensive foul, Patterson made 1 of 2 at the charity stripe with 25 ticks on the clock to extend the advantage to 70-65. Nelson drained a triple with 19 seconds left to make it a two-point game, but Antwon Portley (Lancaster, Texas/Lancaster) used the inbounds play that was successful to help seal the win against Manhattan on Feb. 17 by finding Patterson and then the junior made two free throws with 15 seconds on the clock to seal the 72-68 win.
Saint Peter's jumped out an 8-0 lead to open the game thanks to four points from Desport. Fueled by 10 points from Nelson, who had Fairfield's first 10 points of the game, the Stags came back to tie the game at 15 with 8:58 left in the stanza.
After Milin gave Fairfield a 17-15 lead, the Jersey City team then used a 15-7 spurt to grab a 30-24 margin with 4:08 on the clock. Portley had five points to power the run.
The Stags came back to take 35-34 and 37-36 leads, but Portley hit a jumper in the waning seconds of the half to send the Peacocks into the locker room with a 38-37 advantage and Saint Peter's would never trail again.
Fairfield tied the game at 40 on a Jonathan Kasibabu free throw with 18:33 left before Patterson hit a trey and then the Peacocks held on in a nip and tuck game the rest of the way.
Portley finished the game with nine points and five rebounds while Wyche added eight points. Cameron Jones (Fairless Hills, Pa./Pennsbury) added nine points on three 3-balls.
Saint Peter's has now won its last three regular season finales.
The Peacocks will await the outcome of the Siena-Quinnipiac game on Sunday to find out their opponent in the MAAC Quarterfinals. Saint Peter's will play one week from today either at 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.
