Stags Summary: Fairfield falls 67-61 to Drexel
The Stags, down at halftime, took a second half lead but couldn't sustain it in their third loss of the season.
Welcome to the first edition of ‘Stags Summary’, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by credentialed Fairfield Stags men’s and women’s basketball media member Chase Coburn. Fairfield dropped their third game of the season after back-to-back victories, 67-61, to the Drexel Dragons of the CAA conference in a Tuesday night outing at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Despite a second half lead, Drexel’s 47% shooting was too much for the Stags—who shot 35%—to handle.
“We just need to grow into making more shots,” Stags head coach Chris Casey said postgame. “Particularly in the first half [where] we had some decent looks.”
It was a rough start for Casey’s Stags to begin the contest. Drexel was off to 8-2, 18-9 and 29-14 starts, as Fairfield fell behind early in the first half. Shane Blakeney, off the bench for the Dragons, was a key difference maker and gave Fairfield significant trouble in the first half. He finished with 16 points on 55% shooting.
Overall, Fairfield, who had been coming off two consecutive victories, simply was struggling to shoot efficiently. They were 6-18 on layups in the first half with just 0.6 points per possession.
A key reason why the deficit didn’t grow larger, though, was because of Birima Seck, the Stags backup big man who generated great looks both offensively and defensively for his group. He lead the team in scoring after half one.
“Birima was playing well,” Casey said after the performance. “Particularly defensively I felt he did some really good things.”
Birima, a transfer from New Mexico before the 2023-2024 season, has been a fundamental part in Fairfield’s defensive outlook to begin the season. He finished with the fourth highest efficiency rating on the roster, and closed the game for the Stags.
“[I was] just trying to help my teammates [tonight] to get going,” Birima said postgame. “[I was just] trying to bring up the energy. That’s what I do.”
The Dragons, coached by one of the greatest coaches in Army history—Zach Spiker—got quick transition points inside the paint to begin the game, though Seck’s presence helped limit that success in the final ten minutes of the 20-minute period.
“We just got to keep working,” Seck said after the loss about improving his and team’s play.
The Stags scored just 21 points to Drexel’s 33 at the end of the first half, which was the final stretch of Drexel’s blowout basketball. In those last 20 minutes, a switch was turned that allowed Fairfield to begin the half on a 24-14 run and bring the passionate Stag fanbase back into the action.
“[The message at halftime was to] keep playing hard, keep defending, rebound better, and then move the ball offensively,” Casey said in regards to their second half resurgence. “I said to them just keeping taking good shots [and] eventually they’re going to fall.”
Those shots finally rippled through the rim, as they made 46% of their shots in the second half and 38.5% of which from beyond the three-point arc.
“We put 40 points in the second half, we have to have that in the first half too,” Casey proclaimed in his media availability with Chase’s Sports News.
They saw production from guards Deon Perry and Braden Sparks, and saw a second-half surge from the team’s leading scorer for the season, Prophet Johnson.
A huge reason for the Stags success, especially from three in the second half, was because of Graduate Student Louis Bleechmore, who helped anchor the paint, draw contact, and score quick and efficient buckets in the paint. He finished with an efficiency rating of 13, the second best mark on the team.
“At halftime, we made an emphasis to come out in the second half swinging [and] send a statement,” Bleechmore said postgame. “We played a hard fought game, but right down in the end they got the better of us.”
The big problem: free throw shooting. The Stags missed six free throws down the stretch, the exact total that separated them and the Dragons on Tuesday night.
“[We have to clean up] defensive rebounding and one-on-one defense,” guard Noah Best said after his 13 minutes of action. “I feel like that’s our achilles heel.”
Despite falling short, Casey seems to have nothing short of immense confidence for his group.
He said, “I really didn’t learn anything [about our team’s heart and resiliency]. They’ve been that all year in practice, so I expected [them to come back and cut the deficit in the second half]. I think there’s points in the game [where] we just have to play better.”
Bleechmore on the other hands just thinks, “We just have to be more aggressive out of the gate [to win future matchups].”
The Fairfield Stags, who were a game away from the NCAA tournament just a season ago, look to continue to grow.
“Our guys are still trying to figure each other out,” Casey said. “The whole perimeter is new, and they’re still trying to grow into those roles. We’ll look at the film, and we’ll fix what we gotta fix.”
The Stags turn to their next matchup against Yale, at home, this coming Saturday.
Chase Coburn
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