As MAAC grind approaches, Fairfield grateful for its ability to learn to win games

Caleb Fields posted career-high 27 points as Fairfield turned back Le Moyne for seventh straight win. (Photo by Fairfield Men’s Basketball)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Chris Casey was his normal poised self in the postgame press conference after watching his Stags beat Le Moyne, 78-72, on Saturday afternoon at Mahoney Arena to wrap up their non-conference slate at 7-6. He is focused on the long game with his talented roster that has rallied around the interim coach and his new staff.

The win over Le Moyne marked Fairfield’s sixth straight victory, the program’s longest streak since rattling off seven in a row in 2017-18 that resulted in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game berth, and also the fourth straight against a Northeast conference opponent. In a game where Fairfield led for all but 56 seconds, the Dolphins didn’t shy away from the challenge against a hot team in front of a solid holiday crowd on hand. After leading by as much as 18, Fairfield took its foot off the gas, and it almost proved costly. The closest Le Moyne came was within five with just over two minutes left, before Caleb Fields buried any last hopes from the visitors by making all six of his free throw attempts over the final 1:17. 

Still, a win is a win, regardless of whether it comes against an unheralded Le Moyne team or a mid-major force like Yale, the Stags’ second victim on their current win streak. 

“Every game prepares you for MAAC play and every game is different,” Casey said when asked about how the four-game stand against NEC opponents has helped Fairfield prepare for MAAC play. “Any win translates and it helps your confidence.”

There is no questioning the value of learning how to win, an experience Fairfield will take any day even if the stretches of sustained success have come against teams the Stags may not be favored to beat and not yet for the typical conference toss-up games. There is also not as steep a learning curve to do that when the guards continue to march over opposing back courts like they have, with Fields getting his time to shine against Le Moyne to the tune of 27 points, five rebounds and four assists. He was complemented by a less pronounced 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists from Jasper Floyd, who continues to be a difference maker in his own right.

“I trust in my teammates and they trust in me,” said Fields, whose 27 points marked a career high. “We faced a lot of adversity during the summertime and that brought us closer together.” 

Fairfield continues to do whatever necessary to win. In many games, Jalen Leach was one of the hot hands, but on Saturday, he had an off performance by going 2-for-10 from the field after dropping 20 points in the last two wins over FDU and Wagner. There is a next man up mentality for Fairfield and most importantly, the players are all happy when anyone in their locker room succeeds, according to Fields. That has undeniably raised the morale, while showing the Stags what the sum of their pieces looks like in their current operating state. 

“This is definitely the most fun I’ve had in my career,” Fields said. “Everyone’s cheering for each other even if someone else is having a career high or a great game. We’re all happy for one another.”

Of course, there are things to clean up, too. Fairfield failed to take care of the ball at times in the first half against Le Moyne, and allowed too many easy baskets in transition from those turnovers. The impending return of Alexis Yetna, who hasn’t played since March 2022 due to injury, will go a long way toward helping the Stags defend the paint better and let Peyton Smith and Birima Seck the needed rest to really let the Stags get creative with matchups when at full strength. 

“He’s been really good,” Casey said about Yetna, who he says may be ready to play by mid January. “And I told him over the break, just because you aren’t playing doesn’t mean you’re not having an impact on what we’re doing.”