Courtesy of FairfieldStags.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – It’s an advantage when you have your best free throw shooter on the line with seconds remaining, trying to preserve a lead. It’s a bigger advantage when that student-athlete is a senior. That’s the double bonus Head Coach Sydney Johnson had when Derek Needham stepped to free throw line with under a minute remaining.
All the senior did was make six straight free throws to send the Fairfield University men’s basketball team to the MAAC Basketball Championship semifinals as the Stags posted a 43-42 win over second-seeded Rider University at the MassMutual Center Saturday night.
The win sets up a match up with either third-seeded Loyola University or sixth-seeded Manhattan College in the semifinal game on Sunday. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 pm and will be aired live on ESPN3.
But Needham’s free throw shooting success on this night started a week ago when he took advantage of the week off between the regular-season finale and the first MAAC tournament game.
“I went into the gym and shot every day,” Needham said. “My strength coach (Mark Spellman) told me to run wind sprints when I was done shooting and go to the free throw line and shoot free throws. So when I went to the line tonight, I thought to myself that I had already done this and felt confident.”
This game set up like another classic defensive struggle as the Stags clamped down on the Broncs offense. After Rider scored the first three points of the game, Fairfield answered with back-to-back baskets from Maurice Barrow and Keith Matthews. Rider regained the lead with five unanswered points to regain its biggest lead of the half at 7-4.
Rider would still hold that edge at 12-9 with nine minutes remaining after Jonathon Thompson hit his only basket of the half at the 9:04 mark. It would be the last basket scored by the Broncs in the half, adding just two free throws by Zedric Sadler with 4:31 remaining. The Stags closed out the frame with a 9-2 run that put the Stags in front at halftime, 18-14. Needham scored the first four points while Marcus Gilbert and Coleman Johnson closed out the first half with baskets in the final three minutes.
Neither team had a student-athlete with more than four points as Needham and Gilbert reached that total for the Stags and Daniel Stewart hit the mark for the Broncs. Rider opened the second half with five straight points, all coming from Anthony Myles on a layup and a three-point play to give Rider at 21-18 lead with 16:31 on the clock.
Barrow took that lead away with four points in 26 seconds to make it a 22-21 Fairfield advantage with 14:25. From that point, the two teams would battle through four lead changes and three ties which would end up in Rider’s favor. After Thompson netted a pair of free throws with 7:23 remaining, the Broncs would hold their biggest lead to that point at 32-28.
Needham cut that lead in half with a layup at the 6:50 mark which Thompson got back on the next possession with another jumper. Coleman Johnson came up with a big jump shot that kept the Stags within a hoop at 34-32.
On their next possession, the Broncs turned the ball over but also came up with a stop on their end. Rider missed two shots and did not connect on a one-and-one opportunity on its possession which allowed Fairfield to stay within two points at 34-32. Fairfield came down the court after that defensive stand and took the lead when Needham connected on a long three-point shot that pushed the Stags in front at 35-34 with 3:40 remaining.
The advantage reached three points after Maurice Barrow netted two free throws for a 37-34 score. Stewart laid the ball in the basket to make it 37-36, setting up Needham’s heroics at the free throw line.
He followed up with two free throws at the 37-second mark to regain the three-point edge at 39-36. Myles responded with a pair of charity tosses for the Broncs to make it a one-point game again. With 19 seconds left, Needham went back to the line and nailed two more free throws to push the lead back to three points at 41-38. Thompson added two more free throws for Rider to make it 41-40 with seven seconds on the clock.
Needham tallied two more points from the line to make it 43-40 with three seconds left. Nurideen Lindsey was intentionally fouled at midcourt so a game-tying three pointer was not possible. He made both free throws to pull his team within a point with a second left. Needham was fouled in the backcourt with nine-tenths of a second remaining. He came up short on his first free throw attempt and missed the second on purpose so that Rider could not set up a play. The strategy worked as Rider rebounded the ball and could not take a shot before the buzzer sounded.
“I am very excited to win this game,” Head Coach Sydney Johnson said. “Derek was outstanding tonight and he really willed us to win. We keep finding ways to get it done and there is something special about that. I am really proud of this group of seniors and of this team.”
Thompson finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds for Rider. Barrow tallied nine points with three steals while Colin Nickerson posted five points, a team-high seven rebounds, and two steals.
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