The Stags seemed doomed from the start as they failed to score until the 11:43 mark of the first half, when Jonathan Han `09 hit an open three pointer. From that point on, the Stags turned it around and held on to defeat St. Peter’s 66-58. Despite the early offensive failures, St. Peter’s was not much better as it only scored seven points over that initial 12 minute stretch. The struggle didn’t last too long however as the Stags quickly took over the lead as Herbie Allen `09 hit a three pointer of his own and then drove in for a layup as part of a 12-2 run in the first half. The lead went back and forth, changing five more times, but it was the Stags who headed into the break with a slim lead, 22-21. Allen led the way for Fairfield with nine points, while Marty O’Sullivan ’07 dominated the boards with eight rebounds in the half. Fairfield took 12 more shots than St. Peter’s did, shooting 10-for-30 from the field, but made only three more shots than the Peacocks, who shot 7-for-18 in the half. The second half started a lot better for Fairfield as junior forward Mamadou Diakhate, who finished with 11 points, completed a three point play just 20 seconds into the game. Mike Van Schaick ’07 finally began to find the net as he hit back to back three pointers in a 35 second span, the second coming with 16 minutes left in the game putting Fairfield ahead 33-31. Fairfield began to pull away with 8:27 left in the game as they went on an 11-2 run to take a 58-49 lead. Rather than his recent scoring success, it was Van Schaick’s passes that helped Fairfield defeat St. Peter’s. He drove down the baseline with 7:45 left in the game and sent a pass to Allen in the corner, who hit an open three. Then Van Schaick drove down the lane and sent a pass to Greg Nero `10 who dunked the ball, delighting the crowd. With 40.4 seconds left the Peacocks still had a chance to make a comeback, down 60-55. With less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, the ball was knocked away from O’Sullivan, who dove on the ground for it. He passed the ball off to Allen who was fouled. After the foul, Diakhate was shoved down by the Peacocks’ Brandon Brock, who was called for a technical foul, much to the delight of the crowd who began to chant his name emphatically. The two fouls led to four straight free throws, two by Allen and two by Van Schaick, giving Fairfield a nine point lead and the ball. Allen was fouled again with 27.5 seconds left and knocked down two more free throws to seal the game for the Stags. The victory was Fairfield’s fourth in a row and puts them in the position to make a move in the MAAC, potentially into a top spot and a first round bye in the tournament.
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