Road Warriors: Fairfield stuns Yale to conclude home-and-home series

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — At the 5:42 mark of the second half Wednesday, Fairfield trailed Yale, 61-51. It looked all but set in stone that the Bulldogs would complete the sweep of the home-and-home series that dated back to last season’s 77-64 win for Yale at Mahoney Arena.

Yale had a steady climb to secure the double-digit lead, which brought back memories of last Friday, when Iona pulled away late in the second half from Fairfield and left the Stags merely searching for moral victories. However, the Stags had other plans to round out a two-game road trip that started with a 88-81 win at Rider on Sunday, blitzing the Bulldogs with a game-ending 24-10 run to leave John J. Lee Amphitheater with a 75-71 win.

For 35 minutes of the game, Fairfield interim coach Chris Casey waited for his team to make a real move. The Stags had done enough good things to frustrate Yale and maintain belief after exchanging seven lead changes with the Bulldogs in the first half. Despite leading most of the second half, Yale’s turnover struggles persisted and the Stags outhustled the hosts for rebounds Yale had secured in the first half. Fairfield’s backcourt tandem of Jasper Floyd and Caleb Fields had mostly outplayed the Yale guards on both ends, making it fitting that a final run was still in store for the visitors. The response to Yale’s 8-0 spurt that put the Bulldogs up 10 was a 14-1 Fairfield run built on the backs of the guards and some valiant plays from freshman big Peyton Smith.

“This is another step up the ladder for us,” Casey said after the game. “We’re not complete. We just have to keep on taking steps.”

After scoring two points in the first half, Fields exploded with 14 in the second half, and especially got hot late, adding a pair of 3-pointers packaged around a confident driving layup that froze the Yale defense and had the look of vintage Fields. Although his season high of 21 points came against Iona, the passion and intensity seemed to resurface in this game for Fields, who said he is feeling 100 percent after missing the first two games of the season due to injury.

After big plays for both him and his teammates, Fields was pumped up and audibly excited. No play stood out more than his triple with 1:06 left that gave the Stags a four-point lead and a much-needed cushion.

“I have faced a lot of adversity but I’ve been able to push through,” Fields said after the game. “Casey has just believed in me and I think that has gone a long way.”

Casey backed up his belief in Fields by noting the guard’s work ethic off the court. He credited Fields for spending the last few nights working on his shot in the gym. Things like that are why Fields, who is soft-spoken, but equally confident and genuine in his intentions, is a leader for a Fairfield team that has experienced plenty of trials and tribulations over the last month and half. By channeling all of that into positive play, Fields has allowed his teammates to feed off of him, Casey says, including Floyd most notably.

“Not only does Caleb feed off Jasper, but Jasper feeds off Caleb and so on and so forth with each guy,” Casey said.

If not for Floyd, who scored 25 points and was Fairfield’s most consistent player, the Stags would have likely ditched the late comeback effort to begin with. The smooth lefty showed off his amazing body control driving to the hoop, and was clutch with his shot by draining all three of his 3-point attempts. It was a do-it-all performance of 25 points, five rebounds, and four assists and was done efficiently on 8-of-13 shooting, in addition to his perfect outside shooting.

“Jasper’s a warrior and he did so many things that helped us win,” Casey did.

Floyd is playing like a first team all-MAAC player, with just as much credit owed to his defensive stylings than to his offensive firepower. He came up with three steals against Yale, which provided opportunities to get out in transition and play at a pace that was disruptive for the Bulldogs’ flow. His season averages now stand at 12.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 steals, and 2.8 steals with a 33 percent knockdown rate from long distance. Arguably, there hasn’t been a bigger surprise around the MAAC than Floyd’s play after transferring up from the junior college ranks at Hillsborough Community College, outside Tampa. If he and Fields can see their hot play overlap more often, the sky is the limit for a Fairfield that has grown up a lot over the last two games. Floyd and Fields both outplayed Yale’s dynamic guards, August Mahoney and Bez Mbeng.

Peyton Smith has not backed down to the challenge either despite there being no real back up behind the 6-foot-10 freshman. Though still playing through some freshman mistakes, like an errant pass that was intercepted by Mbeng and converted into a fast break layup, Smith undeniably played a big role towards the end in securing the upset. He came up with a pair of baskets in the closing minutes, the second of which came on a resounding two-handed dunk that got the Fairfield bench and the fans on their feet. That came amid the 14-1 run.

“There’s nothing but encouragement for him,” Casey said. “It’s great when you can play and your teammates have faith in you. That has contributed to his maturity and growth.”

It points to a similar theme about how this team has stayed connected even during some early season struggles. Casey has talked about that at length in press conferences and it hits the proverbial nail on the head when assessing Fairfield through nine games. When Seton Hall transfer Alexis Yetna returns from a knee injury and New Mexico transfer Birima Seck progresses past non-contact drills and his ankle is ready to go, both will come right in and fill the gaps in the frontcourt.

“I’m hoping towards the end of December,” Casey said about Yetna, while also not ruling out a sooner return for Seck. “Lex is working his tail off and I don’t want to rush him back unless he thinks he can be Lex.”