After an emotional and physical home-opener loss against Holy Cross on Tuesday, Stags junior Jonathan Han ’09 sat in the multipurpose room of the Arena at Harbor Yard with a broken nose and said that the Stags would push on.
“We knew we had a physical game in front of us,” said Han. “It was a disappointing loss, but we have a lot more games to play.”
The pivotal moment in the Stags 67-54 loss came when Han was defending Holy Cross guard Kyle Cruze on the wing at the 16:20 point in the second half. Cruze, a good shooter, swung the ball past Han’s face and, in the process, hit him with his elbow, breaking Han’s nose.
Han fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his nose, and immediately jumped up again and tried to go after Cruze. He was restrained by his teammates and was given a technical foul by the referee.
“I was angry at him, he knew exactly what he had done after he did it,” Han said. “It was funny because he hid behind the ref. He knew I was upset. He knew I was going to retaliate. But that’s not me; I have to apologize to the people watching me, but it was the heat of the moment. He told me something was coming and did it, and I reacted.”
The Stags battled back from that point, feeding off of the emotion of the moment. Han left the court but returned soon after to the roar of the crowd, wearing the No. 13 jersey of his former teammate Danny Oglesby, who graduated last season.
Fairfield came back from a ten-point deficit to cut the score to 48-44, but Holy Cross pulled right back away with to a 51-44 lead and would not relent. The Stags were out-scored 16-8 over the final six minutes.
Freshman Yorel Hawkins was the high-scorer for Fairfield, with 11 points, while junior Herbie Allen scored nine. Holy Cross shot 33 free throws in the game and made 29 of them for an 87.9 percentage. The Stags shot just 16 free throws and converted on 12, while also being out-rebounded 33-20, including allowing 13 offensive rebounds.
“I give Holy Cross a lot of credit; they came on the road and played well enough to win. Anytime you can shoot 33 free throws, the game will be played to your pace,” said Head Coach Ed Cooley. “They played very physical and we did not handle their physicality well, which was surprising.”
“It was a very emotional game, but it is something we will learn from,” he added.
Fairfield struggled right out of the gate in the first half, holding only one lead, 4-2 at the 17:09 marker, when Hawkins hit a fall-away jumper to break the early tie.
The Crusaders tied the game on their next possession when Tim Clifford, a 6’11” senior forward who was their leading scorer last season with 11.7 points per game, made a lay-up.
From there, Holy Cross went on an 11-0 run to open up the game and take a 13-4 lead with 14:30 left in the first half. Holy Cross dominated the offensive boards over that stretch, pulling down three offensive rebounds that turned into baskets for them.
It was the Stags’ second loss of the season, after dropping their opening game to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Friday.
Fairfield was defeated 85-60, but junior forward Mike Evanovich scored 20 points, providing one bright spot for the Stags.
Evanovich, a transfer from Iowa State, made a major impact in his debut, but was held to only five points in his second game.
The Stags now head toward one of their most important non-conference match-ups of the season against Sacred Heart, at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Fairfield first plays American University in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The crowd played an important part in the game on Tuesday night, filling most of the student section and being as loud as they have been in a regular season game in a while.
“I fed off the crowd. It was a great crowd all game,” said Han. “I hope they come back out on Sunday and continue to support our team.”
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