St. Peter's rallies in 2nd half, beats Fairfield 77-71

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) Antwon Portley scored 23 points and Trevis Wyche 20 as Saint Peter's battled through the second half to defeat Fairfield 77-71 Tuesday night, pushing to its best start in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference since the 1994-95 season.

The Peacocks came into halftime trailing 36-33, but steadily gained on Fairfield after the break, tying at 38 on a Quadir Welton 3-point play. Saint Peter's took the lead for good with 11 minutes to play after a pair of Wyche basket resulted in a 47-45 lead.

Wyche scored all 20 points after halftime.

Portley, a 6-foot-4 freshman, has six 20-point games this season.

Jonathan Kasibabu scored 16 points with 10 rebounds to lead Fairfield (9-9. 3-4 M), while Marcus Gilbert and Jerry Johnson Jr. added 13 apiece.

Saint Peters shot 56 percent from the field (28-50) while Fairfield shot 35 percent (23-65) and, while lofting 30 treys, sank just nine.