Box Score
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Ryan Olander, Derek Needham, and Warren Edney each scored a team-high 15 points to lift the Fairfield University men's basketball team to its seventh-straight win with a 67-59 victory over the University of Vermont.
Vermont opened the game with five straight points to take its biggest lead of the half. The Stags battled back with six unanswered points, four of which came from Derek Needham. The Catamounts put together their own six-point run to regain the five point advantage at 11-6 with 14:56 remaining in the half. A jumper by Needham and a lay up from Ryan Olander trimmed the deficit to one point at 11-10.
Vermont would raise its lead to four points with a 5-2 spurt that made the score 16-12 at the 11:25 mark. The Catamounts would hold that lead until the 7:54 mark when Needham's lay up with 7:54 remaining pushed the Stags back in front at 20-19. Vermont would secure the lead for the last time of the half off a jumper from Sandro Carissimo gave the visitors a 21-20 edge.
The game was tied at 25-25 with two minutes remaining, but back-to-back three-point shots from Needham and Warren Edney turned things the Stags way, giving them their biggest lead to that point at 31-25 with a minute remaining. Luke Apfeld made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to five points, but Olander's lay up with five seconds remaining gave Fairfield at 33-26 lead at intermission.
Vermont opened the second with a jumper from Matt Glass, but Fairfield responded with a pair of lay ups from Olander to grab its biggest lead at nine points, 37-28. Fairfield would take a double-digit lead at 40-30 before Vermont made a mini run of six straight points as Carissimo capped the run with a layup, making the score 40-36.
The Stags answered the Catamounts with five consecutive points as Edney and Hawkins netted jumpers while Jamel Fields made one of two charity tosses for a 45-36 lead. The lead remained at nine with 11 minutes after Vermont's Matt Glass and Fairfield's Maurice Barrow traded baskets. After a Vermont time out, the Catamounts scored on consecutive possessions – a lay up from Evan Fjeld and a three pointer off the hands of Brendan Bald which trimmed the lead to four points at 47-43. A back-door basket from Bald continued the Catamount run which cut the deficit to 47-45.
Edney's driving layup ended a near-five minute scoring drought for the Stags and enabled them to double up the lead to four points at 49-45. The score went to 53-45 when Hawkins tallied on back-to-back possessions with a put-back basket and a 10-foot jumper for a 53-45 score at the 5:16 mark.
Bald responded with a three-point shot with 4:50 on the clock, but Edney went to the free throw line and converted a both ends of a one-and-one to keep a seven-point lead. Olander's tenacious defense forced Garrett Kissel into a three-second call, which set up the junior's spectacular put-back dunk that led to a 57-48 lead with three minutes left. The nine point lead remained at 63-54 before Joey Accaoui made the game more interesting with a long two-point jumper followed by a three pointer which made the score 63-59 with one minute remaining.
The Stags lost a basket when Hawkins was called for an offensive foul, his fifth of the game. Fjeld went coast-to-coast to try and cut the lead to two, but Olander stepped up with his third block of the game to keep it a four-point game. Fields went to the line and made ends of a two-shot foul to build a six-point advantage at 65-59 with 22 seconds on the clock.
The Catamounts turned the ball over on the in-bound pass, as Edney intercepted the pass. He was fouled immediately by Fjeld, giving him the chance to make a pair of free throws and ice the game at 67-59.
Bald led all scorers with 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Accoui added 14 points for the Catamounts, netting nine second-half points.
Fairfield returns to action on December 28 when it heads to the University of Florida for a non-conference match up.
