ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (March 9, 2022) - After a dominant first half effort that led to a 25-point lead at halftime, the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team held on in the second half to defeat Fairfield University 77-63 in the MAAC Tournament Quarterfinal Wednesday night inside Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
The Peacocks have now advanced to the MAAC Tournament Semifinals for three consecutive seasons and are currently riding a five-game win streak as they improved to 17-11 overall this season.
Senior KC Ndefo led SPU offensively with 20 points as he reached the 20-point plateau for the second time this season (vs. Niagara 1/21/22) while also adding three blocks and two steals.
Juniors Daryl Banks III and Fousseyni Drame joined Ndefo in double figures with 14 and 10 points, respectively, as the Peacocks shot 50 percent from the floor in the win.
In the first half, SPU raced out to an 11-0 lead and outscored Fairfield 44-19 after shooting 58.6% from the floor while holding the Stags to just five made field goals and a 21.7% shooting percentage.
SPU has now won at least one MAAC Tournament game in each of the past six seasons as they advance to Friday night's semifinal contest against either #3 Siena or #11 Quinnipiac at 8:30 p.m.
How It Happened
- Banks III and Ndefo came out hot as they accounted for nine of the Peacocks' first 11 points that led to an 11-0 lead just over five minutes into the contest.
- Leading 15-5, SPU kept their foot on the gas with a quick 8-0 run fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Banks III and Jaylen Murray to push the lead to 18.
- The first half ended in a similar way that it began as the Peacocks ballooned a 16-point lead into a 25-point halftime edge after a 13-4 run capped off by three made free throws from Doug Edert to end the period and send SPU into the locker room up 44-19.
- Fairfield stormed out of the gates to begin the second half with 10 of the first 11 points to quickly cut a 25 point lead down to 16 with 16:43 left to play.
- The Peacocks were able to weather the early storm, growing the lead back to 21 after Edert and Murray hit back-to-back 3-pointers.
- On top 55-34 with just over 12 minutes to play, the Stags continued to chip away at the deficit but could never get over the hump as SPU answered nearly every Fairfield basket with one of their own.
- Fairfield managed to cut the deficit down to 12 after Taj Benning hit a jumper with 5:05 left, but SPU answered with four free throws from Ndefo to push the lead back to 15 and ultimately seal things up with 3:39 left to play.
- The Peacocks never trailed in the game and finished the contest with a 14-point win.
Inside the Numbers
- Ndefo, who was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Wednesday morning, scored at least 20 points for the fifth time in his career in the win.
- Freshman Clarence Rupert made his first career start and led the Peacocks with 16 rebounds.
- SPU out-rebounded Fairfield 34-28 in the win and held a 9-6 advantage in offensive boards which led to a 14-4 edge in second chance points.
- As they have all season, the Peacocks did a majority of their work down low with 40 points in the paint compared to 28 for the Stags.
- In their current five-game winning streak, SPU has outscored its opponent by double figures in four games and has not allowed any of its five opponents to score over 65 points.
- Matthew Lee nearly reached double figures finishing with nine points while Edert and Murray both put up eight apiece.
- With three more blocks, Ndefo now has 289 in his career as he continues his quest to become the first player in program history to block 300 shots.
- The Peacocks took care of the basketball with only 10 turnovers in the contest. SPU is now 8-2 this season when turning the ball over 12 times or less.
- All nine players who saw action in the contest scored at least two points and played at least 11 minutes.
- The Peacocks led wire-to-wire in the win and have not trailed in the last 73 minutes of game action.
- The five game win streak is the longest for the Peacocks since they won five straight in the 2019-20 season.
Next Up
- The Peacocks now await the winner of the MAAC Quarterfinal contest between #3 Siena and #11 Quinnipiac which will take place Thursday night at 7:00 p.m.
- SPU will look to take down either the Saints or the Bobcats Friday night at 8:30 p.m. to advance to the MAAC Title game for the first time since winning it all in the 2010-11 season.
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