IOWA CITY, Iowa – Finally, it all came together.
For two games, the Fairfield men’s basketball team fought hard and played competitively against heavily favored opponents, but had nothing to show for it.
That all changed Saturday night, when the Stags beat Tulane 80-68, winning their first game of the season, and doing so in convincing fashion, clinching third place in the four-team Hawkeye Challenge.
They shot a sizzling 52.9 percent from behind the three-point arc, and hit seven out of eleven three-pointers in the first half, which they finished with a 33-29 lead. Freshman Jonathan Han left those in attendance at Carver-Hawkeye Arena with their tongues hanging out of their mouths on several occasions. He hit all three of his three-point attempts in the first half, and finished the game with 11 points, five assists and no turnovers.
“He was instrumental early on, hitting those deep shots,” said Stags coach Tim O’Toole.
The Stags (1-4) had four guards in double figures: Han, Danny Oglesby ’06 (14), Michael Van Schaick ’07 (14) and Terrance Todd ’06 (game-high tying 18). Todd was held scoreless for the first 31 minutes of the game, but then erupted after hitting a lay-up with just under nine minutes to play to break out of his slump.
Unlike Friday’s game, in which reserves other than Oglesby combined for no points in 12 minutes, the Stags got contributions from nearly every man on the roster. Geoff Middleton ’08 made his first major impact as a Stag. The 6’9″ center came off the bench to score a career-high tying four points and block a career-high four shots in 24 minutes. His presence was needed because Alvin Carter ’05 spent most of the game in foul trouble, and would end up fouling out with 14:59 to go in the game.
The Stags led by as many as 13 in the first half, but the Green Wave (1-4) wouldn’t go away, and went on a 9-0 run to close out the half.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the second half, and the Green Wave got the lead down to two, at 47-45, with 10:05 to go.
But at that point, Todd caught fire. He led the Stags on a 16-5 run that put them ahead for good at 63-50 with 3:07 to play.
“Terrance took over the game,” O’Toole said. “That was the whole game. All of a sudden, he stepped up. I was happy for him, because we need him to be like that.”
The Stags can now fly back to the east coast today with a win under their belt – something that will surely make the travel day far more enjoying.
“It feels good to beat a good team, Conference USA, playing in a big atmosphere. It felt really good,” Han said.
“When you’re doing good things, you’re going to have a chance, and one of these things we talked to these guys about is that we have to fight,” O’Toole said. “We have to keep competing and giving it everything we’ve got, and if we do that, we’re going to be OK.”
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