Local Teams

Landon Taliaferro scored 34 points via 10-for-15 shooting on 3-pointers to carry Fairfield to a rousing 67-62 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday morning in the seventh-place game at the Orlando Invitational.

The Stags (2-6) end their three-game showing at this tournament on the upswing after losing in the earlier rounds against USC and Davidson. Vincent Eze added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Fairfield.

Second-chance points were the difference in a tight game, with the Stags outrebounding Texas A&M 30-21 and turning those rebounds into 23 points. The Aggies had just 8 second chance points, and made only 9 of 27 from beyond the arc.

Texas A&M led 42-39 after two free throws by Quenton Jackson before the Stags roared back. Fairfield forged a 12-2 run that was capped by a Taliaferro 3-pointer at the 7:10 mark that gave the Stags a 51-44 advantage.

The Aggies cut the led to 61-58 on two straight 3-pointers by Savion Flagg, the second with just 1:09 to play. Flagg then missed a tying 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, Fairfield's Taj Benning corralled the rebound, and made two clinching free throws.

Flagg led the Aggies (3-4) with 17 points, with Jackson and Wendell Mitchell adding 15 and 14 points, respectively for Texas A&M. The Aggies have now lost four of their past five games, including setbacks to Harvard and Temple in this tournament.

Texas A&M led 29-25 at halftime behind 9 points from Mitchell and stout defense that forced nine Fairfield turnovers.

Taliaferro paced all scorers with 18 points in the half that included a 6-of-8 showing from beyond the arc. The rest of the Stags went 0-for-7 from 3-point range over the first 20 minutes.

--Field Level Media