Courtesy of FairfieldStags.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Derek Needham scored a team-14 points, one of three Fairfield University student-athletes in double figures as the men’s basketball team posted a 62-53 win over the University of Pennsylvania in the second round of the Preseason NIT Tip-Off. Maurice Barrow and Colin Nickerson also added 10 points to the Fairfield cause.
Barrow opened the game with a layup that sent the Stags in front just 46 seconds into the game. The Quakers tied the game on a basket by Fran Dougherty, the first of six straight points for the forward. He gave Penn its first lead about a minute later to make it 4-2, but the Stags rallied for eight straight points for a 10-4 lead. Needham and Keith Matthews each hit a three pointer during that run.
After Dougherty pulled his team with four points, Barrow responded with a pair of free throws to regain the six point lead at 12-6 at the 15:32 mark. Neither team would score for more than three minutes, a spell that was broken up by Amadou Sidibe‘s layup at the 12:30 mark. Fairfield earned its biggest lead of the game a few possessions later when Needham swished a three pointer for a 17-6 advantage.
The Stags still led by double figures at 19-8 before Penn put together a string of five points that nearly cut the lead in half at 19-13 with eight minutes remaining. Fairfield would regain its double-figure lead after Marcus Gilbert made a three-point shot in the corner that pushed the advantage to 23-13. The 10-point lead remained intact with 4:47 remaining with the score standing at 29-19. Penn fought back to six points after a layup from Jamal Lewis and a pair of free throws by Miles Cartwright.
The Stags took that advantage back off free throws by Desmond Wade and a layup from Colin Nickerson on consecutive possessions to make it a 33-23 advantage with 2:21 on the clock. Fairfield would not score the rest of the way, but Penn would tally five points off a three-point shot from Dougherty and two more charity tosses by Cartwright to send the teams into the locker room with a 33-28 Fairfield edge at halftime.
Penn scored the first four points of the second half that cut further into the Fairfield lead, bringing the Quakers within a point at 33-32 with 17 minutes remaining. Fairfield’s defense made that one-point edge stick for nearly four minutes as neither team could score. After going more than six minutes into the half without a point, the Stags’ offense tallied seven points in less than 30 seconds to increase the lead back to eight points at 40-32 with 13:06 on the clock. The run started with a pair of free throws from Nickerson, followed by a three pointer from Gilbert and ended with a steal to a layup from Maurice Barrow.
Penn stopped the run with a dunk by Darien Nelson-Henry before Needham answered with a three pointer that made it a nine-point lead at 43-34 at the 11:45 mark. The Stags matched their biggest lead with a layup from Nickerson, but the lead came back under 10 when Dougherty laid the ball in the basket at 10:08. The Stags established a 13-point advantage after Nickerson’s jumper from the elbow with 8:26 left, bringing the score to 49-36.
The lead remained in double figures until Miles Cartwright scored off a layup and a free throws on consecutive possessions that brought Penn within nine points with one minute left, making the score 59-50. Wade was fouled on the ensuing possession and made one of two free throws to make it a 60-50 game with 52 seconds left.
Fran Dougherty led all Penn scorers with 31 points, including 17 in the second half. Penn’s leading scorer Miles Cartwright finished with nine points.
The Stags will wait to hear the pairings for the consolation round which will take place next week. The pairings are expected to be announced on Wednesday.
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