BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- After the last game, Head Coach Ed Cooley said that Warren Edney was coming into his own. He proved his coach right once again this evening as the sophomore led all Fairfield scorers with 14 points in the Stags' 70-54 win over Sacred Heart University. Nearly 5,000 fans witnessed Fairfield win its home opener, as four of the home team's five starters reached double figures.

The Stags wasted little time in bringing the hometown fans to their feet, as senior Jonathan Han started the night by hitting a three-point shot on the game's first possession. Herbie Allen stole the ball on Sacred Heart's first possession, which resulted in a fast break layup by Edney for a 5-0 advantage. The lead hovered around the five-point mark for the first 16 minutes of the game, with the Stags enjoying a 26-21 edge at the 4:36 mark.

Fairfield would score the next seven points to push the lead into double figures for the first time at 33-21, a run which started with Han's three-point shot. Anthony Johnson contributed the other four points with a basket and two free throws. The teams traded baskets down the final two-plus minutes which allowed Fairfield to take a 37-25 advantage into halftime.

Sacred Heart's Joey Henley created some space inside in the opening four minutes, scoring six points to start the half which helped the Pioneers put together a small run that cut the lead to seven points at 43-36. Once again, Fairfield had the answer to the Sacred Heart run by scoring five straight points off a jumper by Herbie Allen and a three-point shot by Ryan Olander to make the score 48-36 with 14:24 on the clock.

The Pioneers never pulled closer than 10 points from that point, and fell behind by as many as 20 points at 64-44 with 4:23 remaining in the game. Edney scored four points during that stretch, as four different Fairfield players tallied at least one basket in the run.

Greg Nero finished the game with 13 points, while Anthony Johnson and Han added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Allen just missed making a clean sweep for the starting five by scoring eight points, but ppicked up three steals and four rebounds.

Henley led all scorers in the game with 18 points, while Ryon Howard netted 11 points by making five of six field goal attempts.

The Stags return to action on Thursday afternoon when they play Virginia Tech in the first round of the O'Reilly's Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tipoff Tournament on Thursday. Fairfield will play three games in the four-day event.