Fairfield’s losing streak extends to three as shooting woes continue to humble Stags

Jay Young is mired in crisis with his Fairfield team’s shooting issues, but insists better days are ahead for Stags. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fairfield fans will have to wait another time for their Stags to come away victorious in front of a sold-out crowd.

Sunday afternoon against Iona was a beautiful scene in regards to the sea of red shirts that packed the house – 3,605 to be exact — and far many more beautiful than what occurred on the court, as the Stags dropped their third straight game and had a weekend to forget, coming up on the short end of a 70-61 decision against the Iona Gaels.

Fairfield’s pains this season revolve around its shooting struggles, which have only become worse as of late. It’s been a common refrain from head coach Jay Young, who watched his Stags go a combined 3-for-36 from 3-point range in the losses to Quinnipiac and Iona. 

On Sunday afternoon, the ice-cold shooting by the Stags gave Iona something to build on even when the Gaels weren’t playing their best basketball. Fairfield hasn’t always let its offensive droughts impact the way it defends this season. By most accounts, the Stags are considered a strong defensive team who especially defends the three well. The 3-point defense was fine once again this weekend as Quinnipiac and Iona both struggled to convert from deep, but instead, the defensive lapses came in the early stages of the second half of both games, digging an even deeper hole for Fairfield both times. 

“I thought the difference in the game was that the first five minutes of the second half where we didn’t come out ready to play, and starting slow in the second half has been a problem for us all year,” said Young. 

Iona used a 14-4 run midway through the second half to jump its lead to 21 points, and most of the damage was done on uncontested layups. The body language looked concerning and the crowd was out of it, all while the number of missed threes kept growing. There were even a few times, especially in the first half, when the Stags passed up an open three but even that would lead to a turnover off an errant pass.

The trio of Caleb Fields, Jake Wojcik, and TJ Long went 1-for-14 from long range in their latest act on Sunday afternoon after posting a collective 4-for-22 showing from the field on Friday night. The rest of Fairfield goes when those shooters do and the outcome was 2-for-20 from deep today. 

“The offensive numbers continue to be abysmal and we shot the ball poorly again today,” Young said. “But I believe in our guys and I believe that we’ll make some.” 

To its credit, Fairfield still made a run, just not with any threes. The Stags launched a 20-5 run that shrunk the deficit to five. But from there, Fairfield couldn’t muster enough stops as Daniss Jenkins rose to the occasion for Iona with a personal 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to double digits in the final two minutes of action. Iona also had the green light to close the game from the free throw line once Fairfield started fouling, making 10 of 11 from the charity stripe over the last three minutes to put the bow on its win and a season sweep of the Stags. 

James Johns, Jr. was a revelation for Fairfield, and had his best performance of the season. Only averaging just shy of 13 minutes a game, the freshman was able to get downhill in ways that Stags fans have probably only seen from his high school highlights. He even got the better of Walter Clayton, Jr. on a few plays, including a sweet reverse finish that cut the deficit to eight with 5:28 left. Johns finished with nine points, all of which came in the second half, and most importantly, gave his head coach something more to think about when it comes to playing time after a breakout performance coming on the heels of Young saying after the Quinnipiac game that some guys “don’t deserve the minutes they are getting.” 

“He’s a good player, he’s talented,” Young said of Johns. “The style of the game played to him, as there weren’t a lot of half-court possessions today.”

The rebounding was a positive, as Fairfield won that battle, 39-32, after getting run off the floor and the boards in Hamden on Friday night. But the Stags let some opportunities slip away down the stretch to secure more than the 10 second-chance points they got on Iona. Fairfield would have liked to yield more from its 11 offensive rebounds, but overall, the effort on the glass was a good sign especially without Chris Maidoh, who Young says will get an MRI on his knee on Monday to further assess his status going forward. Makai Willis stepped up in Maidoh’s stead with four points and three rebounds off the bench.

“We went to war on the glass and everyone chipped in,” Young said, as all nine of the Fairfield players who saw action pulled down at least one board. “We gotta do those types of things to stick around with the way our offense is right now.”

The Stags’ lack of perimeter shooting was telling, though. Fairfield got as close as five back after a midrange make from Caleb Fields, but never got closer, unable to deliver the extra punch it needed to fully come back, which ideally would have come from distance. Supreme Cook was his normal self again after an off night Friday, this time going 7-of-10 for 16 points, and was particularly effective in the second half when the rest of his Stags teammates were quiet. Nelly Junior Joseph one-upped him with 18 points, to go along with 16 boards.

“When Nelly and Supreme play, it’s like a sumo wrestling match and they kind of just hit each other,” Young quipped.

Fields battled hard in the second half despite still trying to find his shot. He helped break the Iona press on a number of possessions and set Johns up for an and-one off a fastbreak. Still, Fairfield is going to need more from Fields and his backcourt mates if it wants to have a real shot of winning anything in March, especially when matched up against the high-flying guards of Iona in Jenkins and Clayton. 

“I’m a big fan of their guards,” Young said after previously calling them an “airport” team after Fairfield's January 13 loss in New Rochelle. “They take up a lot of space with their guard size and they’re quick.”

Young believes the breakout is still going to happen, saying he has a “good basketball team that has not played well over the last couple games.” Perhaps Young is on to something after watching his team rattle off four wins in late January. Rick Pitino also appears to believe there is potential for the Stags. 

“They’re a much better shooting team than we are because their guys could shoot,” Pitino said, while citing the shooting reputations of Wojcik and Long. “If they start making their shots, with Jay as the coach, they can beat anybody.”

Pitino said that the expected proceedings in Atlantic might as well call for a “coin flip,” as it has been that close in the MAAC this season. Call it what you want, a root canal for coaches or a roller coaster ride for everyone involved. Young, himself, tried putting it into his own words.

“This league cannibalizes everybody,” Young said. “I’ve coached in a lot of leagues and this is the toughest one in the country. I’m not sure if there will ever be an undefeated team in this league.”