Fairfield falls at Niagara

Caleb Green scored a team-high 12 points and Jake Wojcik added 11 points in his first game as a Stag as the Fairfield University men’s basketball team dropped a 68-51 loss to Niagara University in MAAC play in Lewiston, N.Y.

Wojcik started his Fairfield career with a 3-point field goal on his first shot of the game, which tied the game at 3-3 just two minutes in. Supreme Cook added a couple of free throws on the team’s next possession to push Fairfield (16, 1-2) into the lead just 30 seconds later.

Niagara (1-3, 1-2) responded with eight straight points over the next five minutes to take a six-point lead at 11-5, a run that ended when Zach Crisler netted a jumper at the 12:35 mark. The next time down the court, Taj Benning tacked on a 3-pointer to bring the Stags within a point which Green followed with a floater in the lane to give the lead back to Fairfield, 12-11, with 11 minutes remaining.

Those points would be the last for Fairfield over the next nine minutes, allowing the Purple Eagles to score 12 straight points which made the score 23-12 with 2:55 on the clock. Wojcik stopped the scoreless streak with a 3-point field goal with just under two minutes left in the first half.

Niagara went into halftime with a 28-13 lead.

Benning tried to ignite the Stags at the start of the second half, scoring five straight points off a 3-pointer and another jumper, but Niagara was able to answer at every turn, keeping the double-digit lead intact. The Stags trailed by 12 points at 42-30 before the home team scored nine of the next 12 points to push the lead to 18 points with six minutes left.

Benning finished with 10 points and six rebounds for the Stags. Marcus Hammond paced the Niagara offense with a game-high 14 points, and Kobi Nwandu added 13.

The teams will meet again on Saturday at 4 p.m.