BALTIMORE – A tomahawk jam by Anthony Johnson ’10 with 14 seconds left in the game, put an exclamation point on the Stags 67-59 victory over Loyola (MD), giving them their second victory over the first place team in the MAAC this week.
Fairfield (11-16, 9-6 MAAC) was able to bounce back from a tough loss to Marist on Thursday night to defeat Loyola (14-11, 10-5). Senior guard Michael Van Schaick led the way for the Stags with 26 points.
Head Coach Ed Cooley praised the play of Van Schaick, calling his recent performances “unbelievable.”
“That’s what seniors do, they step up. Van Schaick is really playing as the player of the year in this league. The way he has been putting us on our back, somebody has to take notice to what this kid is doing night in and night out,” added Cooley.
“It was a good win. We have to learn how to play with a lead, we haven’t been doing a good job of that,” Van Schaick said, “But overall a good win, it’s hard to win down here, and they are in first place in our league, if we can beat these guys we’ll be alright.”
The Stags almost allowed a 19 point lead to slip away, which they held with 8:42 left in the game, similar to the way the Greyhounds let Fairfield battle back into the game last Monday. The difference this time was that Fairfield stayed strong in the final minutes and held on for the eight point win.
In the first half Fairfield jumped out to a 23-11 lead with 6:25 to go in the first half. Two separate 10-0 runs gave the Stags the large lead. Fairfield held the Greyhounds to just 23.1 percent from the floor over that stretch, but from there allowed Loyola to get right back into the game.
Tough defense was the key to the Stags play in the first half, as they forced 11 turnovers and turned those into 11 points on the offensive end. Van Schaick finished out the first 10-0 run with a steal from Brett Harvey with 13:53 in the half, which led to a fast break lay-up by the senior guard.
The Stags scored only one point for the rest of the half, while Loyola charged back, scoring nine points, but not taking full advantage of Fairfield’s scoring slump. The Greyhounds made only six of the 27 shots they took in the half.
Fairfield went into the locker room clinging to a 24-20 lead, but Cooley was disappointed with the way the Stags ended the half.
“Our guys were tentative, we got very complacent being up by 13 in the first half,” he said. “Our guys thought it was going to be easy.”
“Halftime was good for us. I think we needed a break,” said Van Schaick. “We got a little bit tired at the end of the first half, the crowd was wearing on us, we really executed after that.”
Cooley did a good job motivating his players to come out strong in the second half, as they came out on a 9-3 run to take a 33-22 lead within the first three minutes. The Stags made five of their first six shots of the half.
For the second straight game against the Stags, a technical foul played a major role in a loss for Loyola. Last time it was a technical on forward Omari Isreal which gave Fairfield the momentum, this time a technical with 13:46 left in the game on Head Coach Jimmy Patsos all but sealed the Stags win.
They were able to extend their lead to 19 over the next four minutes, led by Van Schaick. He converted both free throws on the technical foul and then hit two three pointers, including a fall away shot with 13:05 left, which was his first three of the game.
The Stags could not keep the Greyhounds back, allowing two 6-0 runs and a 9-1 run that brought Loyola within four points, but from there Fairfield shut down and sealed the victory.
“It is important to win every game, this was a great win coming off of the Marist loss,” said Johnson who had 15 points and seven rebounds. “Right now we are just getting ready for our next game; we’ll see how that goes.”
“I think tonight we came out with a really good game plan and our kids executed,” Cooley said. “We got tentative as they got aggressive, especially down the stretch; they put us on our heels. But like I told our players, anytime you can get a win on the road, no matter how it comes, you have to be pretty proud of that.”
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