Courtesy of FairfieldStags.com.
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Maurice Barrow tallied a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead a second-half surge that ended with the Fairfield University men’s basketball team posting a 65-52 win against Rider University. Barrow tallied nine points and secured six rebounds in the second half as Fairfield’s defense held the Broncs to just 19 second-half points.
The two teams fought through four lead changes in the opening eight minutes with the Stags holding the biggest advantage during that time at 11-7. Desmond Wadenetted a three pointer at the 13:03 mark to put the Stags back in front at 9-7, which Barrow followed with a layup to grab the four-point edge.
Fairfield would not score for the next seven minutes which enabled Rider to put together 17 straight points that gave the Broncs their biggest lead at 24-11 with five minutes remaining in the first half. The Stags found their shooters touch from that point and slowly climbed back into the game, pulling within a point in the final minute afterDerek Needham made a three-point field goal to make it 30-29. A three-point play by Daniel Stewart ended the half and put Rider back in front by four points at 33-29 by halftime.
Stewart opened the second half by making one of two free throws to raise the advantage to five points at 34-29 at the 19:13 mark. The Stags defense would shutout the home team for the next five minutes as the offense scored 16 consecutive points that provided Fairfield with its biggest lead to that point at 45-34 with 14:38 remaining.Colin Nickerson was the spark during that critical run, scoring seven points which included a three-point play.
Rider did not go away however and chipped away at that 11-point deficit, coming within four points at 48-44 with 11:38 on the clock. The Stags scored 10 of the next 13 points which reestablished a double-digit lead at 57-47 as Marcus Gilbert‘s three pointer finished off that run at the 6:19 mark.
Fairfield added to that lead and took its biggest edge of the game with 46 seconds remaining after Barrow poured in two free throws to make it a 65-50 score. Jonathon Thompson finished off the scoring with a jumper with 15 seconds left for a 65-52 final score.
The Stags defense forced 29 Rider turnovers, most of which were a direct result of 19 steals. Fairfield turned those turnovers into 27 points, scoring 15 points off turnovers in the first half and adding 12 more points in the second half. Nickerson posted a team-high four steals, while Needham, Barrow, and Justin Jenkins added three steals each.
Nickerson and Needham each finished in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Thompson and Zedric Sadler paced the Rider offense with 10 points each.
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