By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coleman Johnson converted a pair of one-and-one free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining in the game, and the Fairfield Stags held on to defeat the Canisius Golden Griffins, 74-71 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play Thursday night at the Koessler Athletic Center.
Tyler Nelson netted a game high 22 on 7-of-11 shooting including 4-of-7 from behind the arc as the Stags improved to 10-7 in the MAAC with their fourth straight win.
Fairfield, which trailed by as many as eight in the first half, connected on 14-of-23 shots in the second half and outscored the Canisius 40-31 in the second stanza.
“We’re playing some beautiful basketball this season,” Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson said. “It’s been a whole lot of fun, and they’ve put a ton of work in to do that in terms of their conditioning. I preach unselfishness as much as possible. Credit to them.”
Marcus Gilbert knocked down one of his three 3-pointers on the night with 9:14 remaining to give Fairfield a 61-58 lead. The Stags did not trail again.
Nelson pushed the lead to six with a triple from the right corner on a play where the sophomore caught the first pass of the possession in the left corner. Five touches later, Nelson had the ball on the opposite side of the floor.
“Originally, we pushed the ball, and I had it in the other corner,” the Bradford Mass. native said. “I had a shot, but coach has been preaching lately 50 percent not 30 percent shots, open shots. We know if we move the ball, that’s what we’re going to get. Another extra pass there, and it just winds up just coming back to me, and I was open. Just knocked it down.”
Fairfield led 68-62 with 3:51 remaining.
After allowing Canisius to hit 14 of 24 shots (58.3 percent) in the first half, the Stags limited the Golden Griffins to 13 of 39 in the second half.
“In our huddles late in the game we were just saying we were trading buckets. The team that got the most stops down the end was going to be the one that had the best chance to win this game. I think we did that.”
Canisius, though, cut the deficit to one.
Kevin Bleeker finished his second putback slam of the night. Phil Valenti drove the lane for two, and Kassius Robertson connected from behind the arc on a shot which rattled in every direction possible around the rim before falling.
The Griffs trailed 70-69 with 1:01 to go.
“They hit some big shots, and we fell short,” Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. “They took advantage of it. We battled. We played hard. I told our guys ‘we’re right there. We’re right there.’ It’s just one of those things where it can go either way.”
Canisius had a chance to tie the score with eight seconds remaining, but Robertson’s jumper in the lane caromed off the back iron and into Coleman Johnson’s hands.
“I was real impressed with how hard our kids played,” Baron said. “I thought that our intensity was great.”
Malcolm McMillan sunk a pair of free throws and hit a triple from the top of the key to give Canisius a 40-32 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the first half.
But Gilbert got in the lane and scored before the halftime buzzer sounded to cut the lead to six. Fairfield scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 41-40 lead.
McMillan led Canisius with 17. Bleeker added 14. Robertson had 13. Valenti finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
The Stags Jerome Segura handed out a game high seven assists.
The loss was the third straight for Canisius and seventh in the Griffs last eight games.
Canisius (11-17/6-11) hosts Marist Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. Fairfield travels Niagara.
OTHER GAMES IN THE MAAC
Quinnipiac 56 Saint Peter’s 55
From Wednesday
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