Peter Caty/The Mirror
Fairfield head coach Ed Cooley could not explain what had just occurred. For some reason his team walked out onto their home court to play the number one team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Siena, and did not come to play, leading to a disappointing 78-62 loss.
Ten minutes into the game, the Stags were almost already out of the game, down 22-6, silencing the strong turnout from the Fairfield community and students. The Stags did manage to battle back in the second half and came within four points of the Saints with just over ten minutes to play, but then fell back again down the stretch.
‘We just didn’t play today. It was an unacceptable effort,’ said Cooley. ‘It was a very different team I saw in the first half. My team was the one that came out at halftime. It was a lack of focus.’
The Saints opened up the game with a 10-2 run over the first five minutes, led by forward Alex Franklin, who could not be stopped inside and scored eight points during that stretch.
Siena continued to pull away and entered the halftime break with a 33-17 lead.’ The Stags shot a dismal 18.2 percent over the first nine minutes and made just six field goals in the entire half.
‘When you play a veteran team and a well-coached team you have to do all the little things and we didn’t do many of them,’ Cooley said. ‘They did do the little things and it led to a big lead.’
Fairfield came out more energized to start the second half and led by senior point guard
Jonathan Han, who was honored prior to the game for becoming the third member of the 1,000 point-500 assist club in Fairfield history, stormed out on a 16-6 run over the first 3:51 of the half. The run pulled the Stags to within four points at 39-35.
But Siena’s own senior leader, Kenny Hasbrouck, answered with a three-pointer that sparked a 7-0 run that all but ended the game.
Han led the Stags with a game-high 20 points, while junior forward Greg Nero turned in another solid performance with 14 points and six rebounds.
‘We knew Fairfield would come back,’ said Siena head coach Fran McCaffery. ‘They have lots of weapons, a great point guard [Han] and Nero is playing among the best in the league.’
The loss knocks Fairfield (12-7, 5-3) into third place in the MAAC, trailing 8-0 Siena and 5-2 Niagara. Rider sits in fourth place with a 4-3 record and will come to Alumni Hall on Friday night for another pivotal match up that will play a major factor in the league’s second place race.
While disappointed with the loss, the Stags seem to remain confident that they can turn around the season once again. After a seven-game win streak, Fairfield dropped three straight games over winter break, but then battled back with another three game streak before losing to Siena.
‘This can either kill us or make men out of us,’ said Nero. ‘We can come back and learn from our mistakes and play better.’
His head coach seemed to agree, saying, ‘We still have a good ball club. We’ll right the ship.’
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