Coming off of a tough loss against Iona last Friday, Head Coach Ed Cooley and the Stags looked to bounce back with a win against St. Peter’s in their final Alumni Hall game of the season. It did not come easy, but in the end Fairfield pulled out an important victory.
After leading throughout the entire first half, the Stags trailed for the first time in the game with 18:26 remaining in the second half when the Peacocks Todd Sowell scored two of his team-high 16 points.
But the Stags were able to overcome 15 more lead changes in the second half and secured the much-needed triumph with an 11-0 run to close out the game, defeating the Peacocks 70-64 in front of 2,449 fans, including a very rowdy student section.
Mike Evanovich led the way for the Stags with 19 points. Anthony Johnson added 13 points off the bench, including two old-fashioned three-point plays in the final 2:17 of the game.
“I’m very happy with the win, we needed that win bad, coming back to Alumni Hall, I know our kids were excited to play in it,” said Cooley. “I still don’t think we did a great job defensively, they shot 59 percent in the second half and out-rebounded us. If you look at the stats it’s amazing we won the game.”
Junior point guard Jonathan Han was a major reason why the Stags overcame their defensive lapses, dishing out a career-high 13 assists in the game, breaking his record of nine he set against St. Peter’s on Dec. 28. He only turned the ball over once, and that one came in the first half.
“I thought he [Han] did a great job finding guys, especially in the second half and that was the key to the game,” said Cooley.
“When Jon plays well, the Stags are good,” Cooley added “When he struggles, the Stags are going to struggle. That’s a lot of pressure on him, but good luck. That’s what scholarships do; earn your scholarship.”
“Jon handled the ball really well, he had a hell of a game,” said fellow junior guard Herbie Allen who returned from a thumb injury to score 14 points, continuing his hot play.
Fairfield started the game with a small line-up to create a match-up problem for the Peacocks. Evanovich knocked down two early threes and Yorel Hawkins ’11 hit two of his own three-pointers to help the Stags to an early 18-9 advantage with 13:54 left in the first half. Fairfield missed only one shot during that stretch.
“I think it was a match-up with Sowell, he was a little reluctant to come out to the three-point line and Jon saw me and he was able to get it to me so I had time to shoot,” said Evanovich.
The Stags cooled down towards the end of the half, but clung to a 29-28 lead heading into the half-time break. The Peacocks came out strong and scored the first basket of the second half and took a 38-33 lead on a Ryan Bacon bucket with 15:44 left in the game.
But St. Peter’s never could extend the lead past five and the two sides traded the lead back and forth throughout the final 10 minutes of the game, with the Stags eventually taking control.
The Stags continue on one of the most important stretches of their season, playing two more games at home this weekend, against Canisius on Friday night and Niagara on Sunday, with a chance to reclaim a winning record in the MAAC.
“We need to win at home,” said Allen, emphasizing the importance of this and the up-coming games.
“Whether it is Alumni Hall or the Arena at Harbor Yard, that is our home,” said Cooley. “Our home is the Arena at Harbor Yard, that is where we need to win, that is where our program will play. As much as I like seeing students, my building is the Arena at Harbor Yard and that is where we will play and have success.”
Leave a Reply