LEWISTON — It’s the little plays, the subtle maneuvers and intricacies of Rob Garrison’s game that distinguish whether he’s on or not. On a Niagara University men’s basketball team that seems to produce a highlight reel nearly every night out, that’s not easy to spot.

With Tyrone Lewis, you can pick out the whirling drives or deep threes. With Bilal Benn, it only takes an assertive offensive rebound or two to know.

But with Garrison, it’s the sneaky stuff. A hand in a passing lane when you didn’t think he could get it there. A fake from the corner and a baseline drive under a jumping defender.

Or as he did in the second half of NU’s 77-68 victory over previously unbeaten Fairfield at the Gallagher Center, a shifty move where he stole an inbounds pass after Eric Williams’ dunk had given the host Purple Eagles a 45-37 lead.

Garrison had been in a rut of late, scoring in double figures just once in his last five starts and producing a big fat goose-egg in the points column Saturday against Iona. So Niagara coach Joe Mihalich tried to get Garrison in his mental happy place, a spot where the senior felt most comfortable.

“I told him, ‘You’ve just got to pretend it’s July and Jonny (Flynn) and Paul (Harris) are up in the gym right here and you’re just playing.’ He did that,” Mihalich said. “That’s why he had such a tremendous night.”

Tremendous and sneaky. Garrison finished with a career-high five steals along with his 19 points and added the same spark he often did while playing with Flynn and Harris at Niagara Falls High School. Or as he does over the summer when that same group gets a run in on the Gallagher floor.

In fact, the steal off the inbounds was vintage pick-up, a move where he looked like he was retreating on defense, then snuck in front of a pass and got fouled while putting up a shot.

Sneaky, sneaky.

“I think I got away from being instinctive, from just being Rob. Now, I’m embracing my role,” he said. “Last year, I had too many games when I wasn’t scoring, I wasn’t doing anything else. This preseason, I made it up in my mind that even if I’m not shooting the ball well, I still want to fill the stat sheet up with anything I can control. A steal, a rebound, the hustle plays. There’s no luck involved in getting a deflection, intercepting a pass or boxing a man out.

“I’m just trying to do the things that I can control, and do them as hard as I can.”

Garrison’s game is smooth. No thunderous dunks. Even his 3-ball is a little flat, lacking the high-arcing drama of Demetrius Williamson’s theatrical stroke.

But Garrison kept making those little plays Monday, including a back-door cut for a layup on a break when he snuck along the baseline as Anthony Nelson brought the ball up court.

Later, Garrison hit a high floater off the glass over 6-foot-11 Ryan Olander to make it 65-56.

And he finished it off in style, scooping up a loose ball that Lewis had laid out for, spinning it around-the-world style at his waist as he went in for a layup to make it 77-66.

“I thought they got a career day out of Garrison,” Fairfield coach Ed Cooley said. “I didn’t think on film he played as well as he did tonight.”

Snuck up on ‘em, you might say.

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.