Box Score

                ORLANDO, Fla. – Rakim Sanders scored a game-high 21 points while Ryan Olander added 11 points to lead the Fairfield University men's basketball team to a 55-44 win over Arizona State University in the Old Spice Classic. The Stags will face the University of Dayton on Friday at 5 pm with the game being televised on ESPN2.

                The Stags defense was relentless in this game, forcing 22 turnovers and scoring 25 points off those miscues. But it was Sanders that set the tone of this game.

                Fairfield opened the game quickly, courtesy of the hot hand belonging to Rakim Sanders. The forward scored the first seven points of the game,  wrapping a pair of two-point hoops around a three-point shot to put the Stags in front by a 7-0 count.  Arizona State struggled with Fairfield's defensive scheme, turning the ball over six times in the first five minutes of the game.

                It wasn't until Chris Colvin stepped to the line with 16:03 on the clock and hit a pair of free throws that the Sun Devils were able to put points on the board. The Stags answered right back as Colin Nickerson found Maurice Barrow open on the wing for a 15-foot jumper to make the score 9-2 with 14:13 remaining.

                Arizona State tallied its first basket of the game at the 13:03 mark after Jordan Bachynski scored to make the score 9-4. The Stags pushed its advantage to nine points at 16-7 by putting together a 7-3 spurt sparked by five straight points from Jamel Fields. Just seconds after Ryan Olander picked up his second foul and was forced to the bench, Arizona State started a 10-2 right after Fields' run to come within three points at 18-17 with 3:47 remaining. Trent Lockett scored the last six of those eight Sun Devil points.

                Sanders stopped the run with a long three pointer that rebuilt the lead to four points at 21-17. On ASU's next possession, Sanders deflected a pass which resulted in a fast-break three pointer by Nickerson that pushed the score to 24-17. Arizona State came back with a layup from Colvin on its next possession for a 24-19 Fairfield lead.

Sanders kept the Stags rolling with a three pointer followed by two free throws on the next possession to give Fairfield its biggest lead at 29-19 with 1:17 remaining. Fields closed out the scoring with a layup in the closing seconds, giving Fairfield a 31-19 lead at the half.
Sanders picked up where he left off in the first half, scoring four straight points to start the half as Fairfield opened with an 8-3 run that gave it a 17-point lead at 39-22 advantage with 17 minutes remaining. The Fairfield lead reached 18 points after Maurice Barrow converted a pass from Desmond Wade, raising the score to 43-24 with 11:03 left on the clock.

Arizona State put together a short run that brought it within 14 points at 46-32 as the Sun Devils outscored 10-3 over the next five-plus minutes, making the score 46-34 with 5:38 remaining. Olander stopped a four-minute scoring drought with a layup at t
he 5:15 mark, but Lockett returned the layup on the other end to keep the lead at 12 points, 48-36.

The Sun Devils decreased the deficit to seven points with three minutes remaining, using a 6-1 run that made the score 49-42 after Carrick Fields three pointer. Fairfield answered Arizona State's run with an Olander three pointer that gave Fairfield its double-digit lead back at 52-42 with 1:48 on the clock.

Forced to foul, Arizona State put Derek Needham on the line and he responded by making both ends of the one-and-one for a 54-42 lead. The Stags lead was never in jeopardy after that point.