BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - The Marist men's basketball team suffered an 87-85 double overtime loss to Fairfield on Monday at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Senior center Spongy Benjamin (St. Francis Village Erin, Trinidad) had team highs of 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Red Foxes, who fell to 15-12 overall and 9-7 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
The Red Foxes had four scorers in double digits, as freshman guard Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.) scored 15 off the bench, red-shirt sophomore point guard David Devezin (Houston, Texas) had 14 points, five assists and three steals while playing all 50 minutes, and red-shirt junior forward Ryan Schneider (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Marty O'Sullivan had 23 points and 10 rebounds to pace Fairfield, which won its fifth consecutive game to improve to 12-14 overall and 10-6 in conference play. Jonathan Han had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists while playing all 50 minutes, and Anthony Johnson totaled 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The wild back-and-forth affair had 10 lead changes and six ties. Fairfield led throughout the first half, and a three-pointer by Warren Edney gave Fairfield a 26-13 lead with 9:47 left until halftime. The Red Foxes chipped away at the lead, and a basket by Benjamin with two seconds left in the half cut Fairfield's lead to 41-35. Benjamin scored 12 of his points in the first half of play.
After Fairfield started the second half with back-to-back baskets by Johnson, the Red Foxes answered with a 10-0 run to tie the game with 15:01 remaining. A three-pointer by Gavin with 13:23 remaining gave Marist its first lead of the game at 48-47. Marist ran its lead to as much as seven on two different occasions in the second half, and held a 72-66 lead after two free throws by Devezin with 1:23 remaining. However, Fairfield tied the game by scoring the final six points of regulation, as Han's basket with two seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.
A three-point play by Gavin gave Marist an 80-78 lead with 55 seconds left in overtime. Fairfield tied the game on two free throws by Johnson with 19 seconds left, and when the Red Foxes were unable to score on their final possession, the game went to a second overtime.
With 1:38 left in the second overtime, Benjamin split a pair of free throws to give Marist an 85-82 lead. A jumper by O'Sullivan cut Marist's lead to 85-84 with 1:17 to go, and Han's driving layup with 12 seconds to go put Fairfield up 86-85. Marist was unable to score on its next possession, and Johnson hit the second of his two free throws with under a second left to give the Stags an 87-85 lead. The Red Foxes' ensuing desperation heave downcourt was stolen to end the game.
Marist will play the last of its four consecutive road games on Saturday, when the Red Foxes travel to Cleveland State for its BracketBuster contest. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. and will air on ESPNU.
