Box Score 

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Sophomore Greg Nero tallied his first career double double with 21 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, but the performance was not enough to carry the Stags to victory as Fairfield fell to Yale University by a 70-66 count in overtime. The game was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 2,479 fans at Alumni Hall.

The Stags started the game quickly with Fairfield's two starting freshmen providing all of the scoring. A three-point field goal and a three-point play by Warren Edney pushed Fairfield in front by a 6-0 score before most fans settled in their seats. After Ross Morin put Yale on the board with a jumper, Hawkins followed up with a three-point basket to give Fairfield a solid 9-2 advantage.

Yale whittled away at the lead over the next nine minutes to pull within two points at 18-16 following a dunk by Matt Kyle. The lead became a slim one-point margin after Alex Zampier's jumper made the score 24-23 at the 5:30 mark. After a pair of missed Fairfield free throws, Yale took the lead for the first time on Garrett Fiddler's layup at 4:34, giving the visitors a 25-24 edge.

The Bulldogs built their lead to five points by intermission, and went into the locker room with a 31-26 advantage. Yale received most it offense from its bench, as the reserves tallied 18 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Fairfield started the second half much like the first, except Nero became the focal point of the team's attack. Nero took the first four of the first five shots in the half and tallied a pair of layups which started a 16-4 run over six-plus minutes to give Fairfield another seven-point lead at 42-35. The Stags used their long-range shooting abilities during the stretch as Jonathan Han, Edney, and Yorel Hawkins each nailed a three-point shot.

The home team still owned a seven-point lead at 44-37 with 12 minutes remaining, but once again Yale fought back to within a poin at 47-46 with 8:45 left on the clock. Still, the Stags would not relent and continued to score when necessary to keep their lead. Fairfield established a six-point lead on two other occasions, the last coming at 56-50 with 4:46 remaining.

Yale would not tie the game until Caleb Holmes hit a three-point shot with 15 seconds remaining to make the score 60-60. Fairfield had two shots at the basket before the buzzer, but both came up short.

The Bulldogs scored the first four points of overtime and started the extra period witha 6-1 run that gave them control of the game. This time, it was Fairfield's turn to battle back which it did with a 5-0 spurt off a three-point play by Nero and a driving layup by Han to tie the score at 66-66 with 1:10 remaining. Yale iced the game with four straight free throws on its final two possessions, whiel the Stags turned the ball over on their two possessions.

Edney finished the game with a career-high 15 points for Fairfield, his first double-digit scoring effort. Morin led all Yale scorers wtih 16 points, while Alex Zampier came off the bench to tally 14 points for the Bulldogs.

The Stags return to action on Friday, December 7 when they host Siena College in their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener. Game time is 7:30 pm at the Arena at Harbor Yard.