Courtesy of FairfieldStags.com.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Desmond Wade scored a season-high 26 points including the game-winning three pointer with 17 seconds remaining to lift the Fairfield University men’s basketball team to a 74-71 win over Fordham University in the final game of the consolation round of the Preseason NIT Tip-Off. Wade made six three-point shots in the game, making three in each half.
Fairfield jumped out to an early lead after Amadou Sidibe made a pair of free throws to open up the game. Fordham answered with back-to-back baskets to grab its first lead, but Wade erased that deficit with a three-point basket on the night. The lead did not last long as the Rams went on a 7-1 run that allowed Fordham to take its biggest lead of the half at 11-6.
The Stags answered with five straight points to tie the game with the tying points coming off another Wade three pointer. From that point, the two teams battled each other up and down the floor as the teams combined for five more ties and several lead changes before the Stags were able to open up a three-point halftime lead with a 10-7 spurt over the final four minutes of the half, sending Fairfield into the locker room with a 40-37 advantage.
The Stags were able to build their halftime lead not only with their three-point shooting, but also their efficiency at the free throw line as the team made 13 of 14 from the stripe. With those numbers, Fairfield was able to overcome Fordham’s 60 percent field goal percentage in the opening half.
The second half started well for Fairfield as it opened with five unanswered points that gave the team its biggest lead to that point at 45-37. Fordham finally put points on the board when Brendan Frazier hit a jumper that made it 45-39. The Stags would improve its lead to nine points at 51-42 after Maurice Barrow laid the ball in the basket, giving him seven points in the first four minutes of the second half.
After a Fordham time out, the Rams put together a seven-point run over five-plus minutes that cut the deficit to two points at 51-49. Frazier scored four of those seven points to bring Fordham back into the game. Wade stopped the run with a pair of free throws that doubled the advantage to four points at 53-49 at the 10:34 mark. The Stags continued to build on that lead with an alley oop dunk from Marcus Gilbert and a three-point shot from Wade that helped the team take a 60-50 advantage with eight minutes left in the game.
Fordham rallied with a 16-7 run over the next four minutes that cut the lead to 67-66 with 3:51 on the clock. After Wade increased the lead to three with a layup, Jeff Short made a three point shot that tied the game for the first time in the second half at 69-69 with 1:37 left. Sidibe gave Fairfield the lead with a pair of free throws before Smith tied the game with a layup on the other end to keep it tied at 71-71 with 45 seconds remaining.
The Stags remained in the lead when Wade made his sixth three pointer with 17 seconds remaining, making the score 74-71. Frazier tried a three-point shot to tie the game with two seconds left, but the ball fell off the rim. Smith had the ball fall back to him on the wing and he tried another three pointer but this shot was errant as well as the buzzer sounded.
Sidibe was the only other Stag in double figures with 10 points, making all eight of his free throws to account for most of his points. Frazier led all Fordham scorers with 22 points while Short came off the bench to add 17 points.
Fairfield returns to the court on Friday, November 23 when it heads to Providence College for a 7 pm game.
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