FAIRFIELD, CT – Saint Peter's men's basketball suffered its third straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) loss of the season, following a 61-51 defeat at Fairfield University on Wednesday night. Freshman duo
Doug Edert and
Matthew Lee scored 10 points each as the Peacocks drop to 2-3 in the conference.
What Went Down
- A triple by Lee off a feed from Daryl Banks III put the Peacocks ahead 5-2 in the early goings.
- After losing the lead for a moment, Banks hit a jumper to put Saint Peter's back ahead and then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup to extend the lead back to three points (9-6).
- The game tied consecutive times at 9 and 11 points, before the lead changed hands four times and the Peacocks found themselves ahead 16-15 (7:40).
- Fairfield would capitalize off a 9-0 run and put Saint Peter's in a whole, forcing the visitors to call a timeout.
- The Peacocks would only log four points compared to eight by the Stags the rest of the half, leading to a 32-20 halftime deficit.
- The second half began with the two sides exchanging field goals, leading to a 42-30 score in favor of the host.
- Still trailing by 12, Saint Peter's defense and passion willed the team to a second half comeback.
- The rally sparked when KC Ndefo made a steal near midcourt and found Quinn Taylor for the fastbreak layup.
- On the next defensive series, Fousseyni Drame earned a steal, which led to a triple by Edert on the offensive end, cutting the score to 42-37.
- The next Fairfield possession ended in another turnover and this time Edert connected on two shots at the charity stripe (42-39).
- Succeeding a Fairfield basket and missed shot by Saint Peter's, Taylor was able to force a theft and feed Edert in transition for a trifecta that cut the score to 44-42 with 9:55 in the game.
- Unfortunately, that field goal would end up being the last made shot for the Peacocks for a while as the road team went 8:50 between made field goals.
- During the 8:50 drought, Saint Peter's missed on 12 consecutive field goal attempts (five from behind the arc), and turned the ball over six times. Inversely, Fairfield scored 11 points over the timeframe, extending its lead to 55-42 with just over one minute to play and ultimately putting the game out of reach for Saint Peter's.
- Despite trailing, over the final 1:05 of the game, the Peacocks managed to score nine points led by Lee, Hassan Drame, Cameron Jones, and Majur Majak.
Inside the Numbers
- Saint Peter's was outscored by Fairfield by a 31-13 combined score to end both halves.
- For the eighth time this season, 10 players scored at least two points for the Peacocks.
- In addition to his 10 points, Lee also posted a team-high five steals and dished out a team-best three assists.
- Edert scored all 10 of his points in the second half during the Peacock's run that cut the score to a one possession game.
- Banks ended his night with eight points and three rebounds.
- H. Drame and Ndefo both tallied five points each.
- Saint Peter's defense forced Fairfield into 21 turnovers.
Up Next
- Saint Peter's will remain in Connecticut during its current road tour, visiting Hamden next for a meeting with currently unbeaten Quinnipiac.
- The Peacocks and Bobcats will meet on Saturday (Jan. 18) at 4:30 p.m.
