“(Giving up) 30 is our pace, 60 points, we win the game,” said senior guard Latrell Reid, who felt confident about limiting the Stags to 32 points in the first half despite being behind seven points. “It was just about cleaning up offensively and putting the pressure on them.”
The blueprint was set for Saint Peter’s after knocking off two other explosive offenses in Rider and Quinnipiac in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively. The on-court synergy carried over from those two games, and Saint Peter’s belief never died, considering Fairfield’s outside shooting struggles that came to haunt them one final time at Boardwalk Hall.
The Stags, who shot 5-for-25 from three and were 1-for-15 in the second half, may have been off their game from beyond the arc, but this is what Saint Peter’s does. The Peacocks’ grind-it-out, physical style may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it’s an identity they wouldn’t trade for the world.
“We believed the whole tournament (that) we could beat all of these teams,” said senior guard Roy Clarke.
And this year, they had an offensive weapon that any mid-major team in the country would envy. The Peacocks’ record already spoke for itself in games played with Washington, who suffered a shoulder injury midway through the season that sidelined him for five games. Without him, Saint Peter’s was 1-4, and could not churn out enough offensive production to compete. On this occasion, Washington oozed with more confidence than anyone out on the floor, and it’s the biggest reason why Saint Peter’s is the last team standing in Atlantic City.
When his Saint Peter’s squad trailed 39-29 following a layup from Jalen Leach, Washington took matters into his own hands, launching a personal 6-0 run that turned into an 8-0 team run, bringing Saint Peter’s within two by the 13:11 mark.
After Fairfield extended its lead back to four points off a drive from Caleb Fields, the Peacocks responded with five more timely points on a rainbow three from Brett Bland and mid-range jumper from Michael Houge. That gave Saint Peter’s a 42-41 lead, prompting a timeout from Fairfield head coach Chris Casey at the 11:30 mark.
Washington scored a dozen more points down the stretch of the game, even while going through a funk from the free throw line that included four straight misses at one point. However, he came through when it mattered the most, hitting his last four free throws to help stave off Fairfield.
After struggling with his shot and only scoring a combined 19 points in the opening two games, Washington ended his night with 24 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks. It was the most clutch performance of any MAAC player this season, slightly ahead of Jadin Collins’ 20 points, five steals, and four assists in Marist’s 65-59 win over Niagara on Thursday.
“I took whatever the game gave me,” Washington said. “My feel for the game was just so great.”
The 2024 MAAC championship won’t necessarily be remembered for what Fields and Leach didn’t do — all season, they were the main reasons Fairfield enjoyed success — but instead the magic that Washington captured when the game was hanging in balance. He has been every ounce of a blessing for Mason’s team.
“He was willing to fly from Arkansas on his own dime and try out,” Mason said, recounting Washington not having any offers before he came on Saint Peter’s radar. “I asked him what he thought after guys were diving all over the floor, bouncing off the walls, there were no out of bounds, no fouls, and that kid walked up to me and said he loved it here. I told my staff to not let him leave.”
On the other side, Fairfield was not without its opportunities down the stretch. The Stags simply couldn’t hit the one shot to get them over the hump. Additionally, Casey had to burn two timeouts down the stretch as Leach twice had trouble inbounding the ball against Saint Peter’s pressure. Even then, it looked like Fairfield may have had one last burst of heroics left when Fields somehow got an and-1 to fall while hitting the ground, which cut Saint Peter’s lead to one with 39 seconds left after the missed free throw.
But on the ensuing possession, Fairfield committed a foul with six seconds left on the shot clock and 15 on the game clock. Clarke went to the line for Saint Peter’s and hit two free throws to get the lead back to three.
Jasper Floyd had the chance to be a hero, but his three hit back iron with five seconds left. That came after Leach missed a three-point attempt of his own with 53 seconds left, which also could have tied the game at that point.
The Stags just couldn’t catch their break.
“I have some very upset guys in the locker room,” Casey said. “The investment of these young men is really high-level, so it hurts.”
Saint Peter’s, who lost to Fairfield twice during the regular season, got the last laugh. Reid, Washington, Houge, and Clarke all sat around Mason in the postgame press conference and each mentioned how much their 40-year-old coach meant to them.
“He means the world to everyone,” Clarke chimed in. “He’s always hard on us because we need it. Personally, he’s helped me so much to learn a lot this year, and I couldn’t ask for a better leader as a coach.”
It’s bittersweet how things worked out for Mason, who witnessed his former employer, Wagner, also punch its NCAA Tournament ticket. The former Seahawks coach used the current one’s words of wisdom when addressing his newly crowned players after the game.
“I just quoted my good friend Donald (Copeland) with the guys in the locker room,” Mason said. “His message to the team at Wagner was he didn't need that game right there to be proud of his group, and I said the same thing. I didn’t need that win right there to be proud of the group.”
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