In a hotly contested battle in a hostile opening-night environment at Holy Cross, the Fairfield men’s basketball team came up short this afternoon 67-65 in overtime. It was the second straight overtime loss for the Stags, who opened the season with a 59-54 double overtime loss to American on Friday night. In this afternoon’s game, Fairfield was able to hang tough, to the point of having a chance to win, against a Patriot League power who won 20 games last year. Holy Cross returns most of their players from a squad that was one win away from the NCAA tournament last year. As some may remember, they lost to Bucknell who went on to upset Arkansas in the first round of the NCAAs last year. Fairfield came out of the gate and gained a quick 6-3 lead. But soon enough, the Patriot League frontrunner responded with a 17-0 run, taking hold of a 20-6 lead. Jon Han and Greg Nero led Fairfield’s response as they mounted their own 9-0 spurt to cut Holy Cross’ lead to six with 5:48 left in the first half. By the time halt-time rolled around Fairfield faced a 25-19 deficit going into the locker room.
Holy Cross began the second half by pushing their lead to nine points in the opening minutes. Fairfield found their niche as they pounded the ball inside to their big men for high percentage shots. Jon Han (8 assists) continued to find his big men, O’Sullivan (14 points) and Nero (23 points, and 6 rebounds), who were able to convert. Nearly halfway through the second half the Stags were now within two points at 34-32.
The Stags and the Crusaders were neck and neck, with Fairfield nipping at their toes, the entire way until Mike Van Schaick sunk two key free throws to tie the game at 52. Holy Cross responded with four unanswered points by Tim Clifford. Yet once again, the Stags would not go down without a fight. Van Schaick came back with a 3-pointer to pull Fairfield within one with 46 seconds remaining. After a bit of indecision by Kyle Cruz, who passed up an open jumper, and consequently missed a 3-pointer, Fairfield rebounded and came down the court with a chance to win. Jon Han drove and dished to Van Schaick, who pulled up for a 3-pointer. As the ball ricocheted off the side of the rim, the Stags’ efforts looked for not. But Danny Oglesby snuck in and snatched the rebound, getting fouled as he did so. He hit the front end of his free throws but the second rolled off the rim. Fairfield and Holy Cross were headed to OT tied at 56-56.
Overtime started with Fairfield claiming a 63-59 lead, capped by a pair of Greg Nero free throws. After a free throw and 3-pointer by the sharpshooter Keith Simmons (who finished with 18 points) the game was once again tied. Holy Cross star Torey Thomas came down and put in two of his 20 points to reclaim the lead. Fairfield Freshman Greg Nero refused to go quietly as he laid in his 22nd and 23rd points, equalizing the game at 65. After a defensive foul on the Stags, Thomas coolly nailed two free throws with 2.6 seconds remaining. Jon Han’s mid-court desperation 3-pointer rimmed out, and Fairfield once again came out on the wrong side of a riveting overtime affair.
The Stags’ non-conference schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. Next up: Tuesday night at Atlantic 10 powerhouse St. Joseph’s.
Leave a Reply