Peter Caty/The Mirror
Finally, the students showed up. The occasion was a 9 p.m., nationally televised battle between two of the best Men’s basketball teams in the MAAC this year.
The teams did not disappoint in an entertaining, back and forth contest which saw the MAAC-leading Stags take home a 75-71 victory.
The Stags controlled the majority of the opening half with a balanced effort led most notably by Yorel Hawkins’11 and Ryan Olander ’12. Hawkins’ mid-range game was on point throughout, while Olander policed the paint on both ends of the court.
However, a mini-run by Iona cut the lead to 31-27 by the end of the first half.
The Stags came out like a house on fire – whatever Cooley said at the half must have sparked a fuse. A quick 7-0 run put the Stags up comfortably at 38-27. However, Iona rattled off nine of the next 11 points, signaling that they would not be going down on this night without a fight.
The two squads went at each other for much of the second half until Fairfield, in a game of many runs, used one of their own to take a 64-50 lead at the 7:26 mark. Hawkins delivered the highlights of the evening with two monster dunks, the second off a nice feed from Colin Nickerson ’13 off a fast break.
Students remarked that it was the loudest they had ever heard the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, which housed an impressive attendance total of 4,094.
All seemed well, an impressive victory on home court in front of a national television audience. And then the Gaels conjured up another comeback.
Using a 17-5 run, Iona was able to use some timely 3-point shooting and a pesky full court trap to cut the lead to 2, 73-71 with 25 seconds to go.
Hawkins and Nickerson hit 2 of 4 from the line to seal the victory by a final score of 75-71. A crushing defeat was narrowly avoided.
Hawkins played arguably the best game in 4 years as a Stag, tallying 25 points and 7 boards. Olander chipped in with 19 points, and 8 rebounds of his own. Point guard Derek Needham ’13 threatened a double-double with 8 points and 9 assists, despite struggling with his shot throughout the evening.
The victory put the Stags in the proverbial driver’s seat of the conference as the MAAC postseason tournament approaches. It will be played March 4-7 at Harbor Yard.
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