Saint Peter’s overcame a halftime deficit to beat Fairfield and advance to the Big Dance.
The Saint Peter’s Peacocks looked like a sluggish team in Saturday night’s first half of the MAAC championship game. They couldn’t keep up with Fairfield as Jalen Leach and Calen Fields shot the lights out. After all, the Peacocks had played three games in three nights. They ground against Rider and MAAC regular-season winner Quinnipiac to get to the championship game.
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But these Peacocks are different: a team that refuses to go down easily. This is a mentally tough team with a culture of refusing to lose. That is who and what they are, and they would be heard from in the second half.
So, it wasn’t surprising Saint Peter’s outscored Fairfield, 43-31, in the second half to take a 68-63 victory, and punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament as MAAC champions.
It starts with Corey Washington. He makes the Peacocks go, a natural scorer who can defend with the best of them. The Peacocks were one of the top teams in the conference until Washington suffered a shoulder injury this season. The Peacocks stayed at .500 until Washington returned to the starting lineup on February 16 in a 75-53 victory over Siena.
From there, the Peacocks ran off five in a row before (surprisingly) finishing the regular season by losing two straight. No matter. In an interview I had with Coach Bashir Mason after Saint Peter’s 89-74 loss to Quinnipiac a week ago, he told me his team is crazy enough to believe they can win the MAAC Tournament. It’s understandable. With a player like Washington, anything can happen.
The Peacocks star worked his magic after the Peacocks trailed 32-25 at halftime. He scored the team’s first eight points to start the half, cutting the Peacocks’ deficit to 39-35. From there, the Peacocks had to feel they could win it. That’s what happened, too. Washington scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, and his defense on Jalen Leach was a difference-maker.
Washington was a one-person wrecking crew, rebounding, dishing, and scoring. Whatever the Peacocks wanted him to do, he delivered. That’s why he is the MAAC Tournament MVP. But Washington wasn’t perfect. When he was fouled at the three-point line, he then missed three free throws. The Stags responded until Washington calmed things down by making shots and free throws, aided by Latrell Reid and Mouhamed Sow, who worked on defense and set up Washington and Roy Clarke.
But in the end, it came back to Washington, and we know by now that the Peacocks will go as far as Washington will take them. And on this Saturday night, he got the Peacocks into the Big Dance.
Washington did what great players do, performing when everything was on the line. And to just think that Washington is only a sophomore. If he chooses to stay at the university, he has more heroics in store for the Peacocks. From all accounts, it looks like he will be here next year because he enjoys the area and campus.
I think the country is in for a treat when fans get to see Washington play in the NCAA Tournament. They will discover how great a basketball player he is and what a wonderful story has unfolded in Jersey City.
