ATLANTIC CITY – They’re back!
Two years after Saint Peter’s made its inspiring run to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight, the tiny school from Jersey City returns to March Madness looking to regain its Cinderella status.
The Peacocks punched their ticket with a 68-63 win over Fairfield in Saturday night’s MAAC Tournament championship game at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, emerging as the No. 5 seed with its third win in as many days.
Sophomore forward Corey Washington led the way with 24 points, at the Peacocks won their fifth MAAC title overall, and their second in three years.
Saint Peter’s is the team that started New Jersey’s recent run of shocking postseason performances, the first of three New Jersey schools to advance against long odds, with Princeton reaching the Elite Eight a year ago, when FDU won two games at a No. 16 seed, including a takedown of top-seeded Purdue.
Now, with Mason having replaced Shaheen Holloway, now the Seton Hall boss, and just one player, MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Latrell Reid, who finished with nine points, remaining on the Peacocks’ roster from two years ago, they head back to the Big Dance.
The Peacocks now wait to find out their next opponent when the 68-team field is announced Sunday night. They figure to be a 16 seed and could end up in the First Four in Dayton, perhaps against NEC champs Wagner, coached by Donald Copeland, a former assistant coach to Saint Peter’s head coach Bashir Mason at Wagner. If they are in the main draw, it could mean a rematch with Purdue, who they beat in the Sweet 16 two years ago, or Houston or North Carolina.
Defense makes difference
After Saint Peter’s built a 61-54 lead, Fairfield rallied with a steal and score by Jalen Leach and a drive by Brycen Goodine to make it 61-58 with 1:39 to play. Washington then missed the front-end of a one-and-one, with Fairfield getting a score from Goodine on a drive to pull within a point with 1:16 left.
When Washington went back to the line shooting two, he sank two to make it a 63-60 game with 1:07 on the clock.
It then came down to the Saint Peter’s defense, which came into the game ranked 12th nationally, getting a stop, with Marcus Randolph getting fouled on the defensive rebound with 50.9 left. He made one of two from the line to make it a two-possession game at 64-60.
Caleb Field then scored on a drive and was fouled for Fairfield, completing the three-point play with 39.9 seconds left. Clarke was fouled and made two free throws with 15.1 seconds. Fairfield’s Jasper Floyd missed a jumper at the other end, with Washington getting fouled with 2.9 seconds left, hitting both free throws to seal the win.
After going down 29-19, the Peacocks rallied with a quick 6-0 run, pulling within four points on a pair of free throws by Marcus Randolph with 1:53 left. But a Yetna tip-in put the Stags up 32-25 at halftime, with Yetna leading all scorers with 10 points over the opening 20 minutes.
Then Washington took over, scoring six straight points, with the final two coming after he blocked a shot at one end and took the ball coast-to-coast for the score, giving the Peacocks a 49-44 lead. It stretched to 52-46 on a triple by Clarke with 7:40 left.
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