St. Peters Takes Down Fairfield in MAAC Final, Earns Bid to NCAA Tournament
Atlantic City, New Jersey— St. Peter’s Peacocks came all the way back from a first-half deficit, to take the crown of the MAAC, beating the Fairfield Stags 68-63. This will be the second tournament berth for the small New Jersey school in the past three years. With Shaheen Holloway leaving St.Peter’s after their glorious March run two years ago, Bashir Mason did a fantastic job with the Peacocks in his first year. If losing Shaheen was not enough, the portal was also brutal to the team with many players leaving the school. A true culture change has begun in Jersey City with the five-seeded Peacocks getting hot at the right time, and now they will wait for Selection Sunday to see the field.
For a first half that was dominated from start to finish by Fairfield, Chris Casey wanted his team to play “in your face” defense. Holding a prominent offensive team to only 25 points at the end of the first half. Alexis Yetna was the catalyst for the controlled first frame, with 10 points and eight rebounds. He finished off the contest with 12 points and 10 boards in the losing effort. Caleb Fields gave it his all with 17 points and nine rebounds. A smooth attack from three shooting over 50% in the first half, the Peacocks were looking up from the start of the game.
The team from Jersey City however will storm back into the game at Boardwalk Hall in a second-half effort. In taking the lead from the Stags with roughly ten minutes left, the 14-2 run was the spark needed by the March warriors. Corey Washington led the charge for St. Pete’s with 22 points and nine rebounds for the winning side. In a thriller towards the end, each team was trading baskets back and forth. A huge three-point play for Fairfield brought them within one, but a late foul will push it back to a three-point game after a couple made free throws. A true “tale of two halves” occurred in this championship, where holding the Peacocks to less than 30 points in the first half was not all. The Cinderella story was once again continuing, and this year there could be some more magic coming their way.
After beating the number one-seeded Bobcats out of Quinnipiac, this St. Peter’s team felt that they could make that push at the right time. For Coach Mason, this is the best season he could have ever asked for in year one. For the upcoming years in the MAAC, there is a new coach to watch in how he guides his team through games. Is there another upset brewing for the Peacocks in March again? Tuesday next week cannot come soon enough.
