Peacocks miss Corey Washington’s offense against the Fairfield Stags.
JERSEY CITY, NJ, SPECIAL TO THE SPORTS COLUMN–When Saint Peter’s called its final timeout of the game, head coach Bashir Mason drew up a play to get Michael Hogue a basket that would send the game to overtime. Hogue’s attempt fell short, and the Peacocks (now 11-11) dropped their fourth straight game, losing 64-62 to the Fairfield Stags (now 15-9) on Saturday afternoon at the Run Baby Run Arena.
Bashir Mason: We got to play better. We need to execute better. We got to execute better after a timeout.
In the second half, the final play summed up everything that went wrong for the Peacocks (11-11, 7-6) as SPU struggled to make shots and couldn’t finish scoring chances.
It had to be bewildering for the home team because the Peacocks went on a 25-6 run in the first half, including shooting three consecutive 3-pointers to take a 32-24 lead at one point. The team shot 52 percent in the first half after being down 13-7 to start the game, after which Mason called a timeout to settle his team down. The Stags then scored eight consecutive points, including Jalen Leach’s 3-pointer (17 points) that would tie the game at 32.
But that would be as good as it would get for the Peacocks after entering halftime with a 36-33 lead on an Elijah Wood’s dunk. Then, the Peacocks suffered a scoring drought for seven minutes in the second half. That gap played a role in the Stags chipping the deficit away, including a 3-pointer by Caleb Fields (17 points) to make it a 48-47 game after the Stags trailed 46-40.
The Stags would go on a 15-3 run to take a 60-51 lead over the Peacocks. Still, the Peacocks had opportunities to win the game.
Roy Clarke scored eight straight points, including a free throw, 3-point play, and a couple of layups, along with Armoni Zeigler’s free throw to cut the Stags lead to 61-59. And with 45 seconds to go, it was anyone’s game, mainly because the Peacocks got several defensive stops from Ziegler and teammate Latrell Reid.
Marcus Randolph hit a three-point play to cut the Stags’ lead to 63-62. Then James John Jr. hit one of two free throws to give the Stags a 64-62 lead, which set up the game’s final play for the Peacocks that went for naught.
Bashir Mason: It was a hard-fought battle. The will to win was there. Our game plan was to hold Farifield to 60 points, and we gave ourselves a chance to win. I’m proud of Roy (Clarke with 21 points). We found trigger parts of his game where he can succeed. I’m also happy for Marcus(Randolph with 19 points). He went from starting to being on the bench to working his way into the lineup. He has played well in practice, and he is being rewarded.
That said, Mason wants to see more from his men defensively. “Fairfield shot 50 percent and 36.8 percent from the 3. They had open looks. Our defense must get better,” he said in his postgame presser.
With the loss, The Peacocks fell to 7-6 and 6th place in the MAAC, and reporters asked Mason about the impact of Corey Washington’s absence from the lineup (shoulder injury) and his 14.5 PPG/5.9 RPG contributions. “That is life,” the coach said. “My job is to prepare them for the real world. We have to play better. We have to figure it out. We’re not going to be down on ourselves.”
The Peacocks will next play Friday night, hosting the Siena Saints (4-20) at Run Baby Run Arena. Tip time is 7 o’clock.
