Men’s Basketball Comes up Short at Fairfield

BRIDGEPORT, CT – The Peacocks dropped their second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game of the season on Thursday night, falling to Fairfield on the road 60-57.
 
Game Notes

• After a layup by Samuel Idowu on the opening possession of the game, Saint Peter's (4-11, 1-2) gave up 11 unanswered points, falling behind Fairfield (5-11, 2-2) 11-2.
• Davauhnte Turner would quarterback the offense, assisting on the Peacocks' next three made field goals, on passes to Dallas Watson for a 3-pointer, Quinn Taylor for a baseline dunk, and Derrick Woods for a layup, cutting the deficit to 15-9.
• After falling behind 20-9, the Peacocks pieced together a quick 6-0 run with Turner notching two fast break layups and Watson connecting on a floater to put the Peacocks behind 20-15 with 5 minutes to play in the half.
• After trailing by 10 again with seconds to play in the half, Watson connected on his second triple of the half to put the Peacocks behind 30-23 at intermission.
• Turner came out firing on all cylinders from behind the arc in the second half, leading Saint Peter's on a 19-7 run that featured him hitting four 3-pointers, to put Saint Peter's ahead 42-37.
• Following a made 3-pointer by Manny Dixon, Fairfield closed in on the Peacocks, retaking the lead at 51-50.
• Idowu responded with a layup that would give the Peacocks their final lead of the night, up 52-51.
• With less than one minute to play, Saint Peter's trailed Fairfield by three (58-55) after Taylor hit the frontend of two free throws.
• After an intentional foul, Fairfield's Jonathan Kasibabu made both free throws to put the Stags ahead 60-54 with just 18 seconds to go.
• The Peacocks quickly advanced the ball and Taylor got fouled behind the arc, going to the line for three shots.
• Taylor made the first two, putting the Peacocks down 60-57, and intentionally missed the third in an attempt to get the ball, which the Peacocks did with 1.3 seconds remaining.
• Coming out of a timeout, Dixon found Idowu who made the catch and put a good shot up that hit the rim, bounced up, and came off of the rim again to end the night.

 
Inside the Numbers

• Turner led all scorers with 20 points, behind a 4 of 8 performance from behind the 3-point line.
• Turner also grabbed six rebounds and assisted on four shots.
• Dixon scored a career-high 10 points and made three steals on the defensive end.
• Taylor followed the duo with nine points four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
• Watson scored eight points, all coming in the first half, and added four assists.
• Idowu added six points and led the Peacocks with seven rebounds.
• The Peacocks' starters combined to score 53 of the 57 points scored in the game.
• Kasibabu (17 points) and Jesus Cruz (10 points) led Fairfield in the win.

 
Coach's Quotes - Shaheen Holloway

• On Turner and the play around him - "He is our guy. We go as he goes. He got comfortable in the second half and started hitting some shots, and I think that is what opened it up for us."
• Game plan on the last possession - "We tried to run some action. We tried to confuse them a little bit with Te [Turner] coming off the side of a screen and they jumped out like I knew they would and Sammy [Idowu] would be open at the top for the three that came up short."
• How the team will bounce back - "We head home on Sunday and we just have to take care of home. We have to find a way to win on the road. That is what happened. We won the home opener against Siena and then went on the road against Monmouth and lose that game then we lose this game. We just have to take care of home on Sunday and try to bounce back."

 
Up Next

• The Peacocks return to Jersey City on Sunday, January 13, when the squad will play host to Marist at 1 p.m.