Box Score


                ALBANY, N.Y. –  Desmond Wade scored a season-high 27 points but the Fairfield University men's basketball team could overcome a poor shooting night as Siena College posted a 73-60 win at the Times Union Center. Wade was the only Fairfield student-athlete to reach double figures.

                The two teams certainly found their range early in the game with seven of the first 10 baskets coming from behind the three-point line. After starting the game with a pair of two-point goals, both teams hit a three-point shot to keep the game tied at 5-5. Kyle Downey put Siena back in front with a runner in the lane for a 7-5 advantage, but that was quickly erased with Ryan Olander's three pointer which gave Fairfield its first lead at 8-7.

                Desmond Wade added two free throws to push the lead to 10-7 before Evan Hymes tied the game with a three-point shot at the 13:41 mark. Sean Crawford regained that three-point edge with a three-point field goal, but once again Siena would tie the score on Owen Wignot's long-range jumper to tie the game at 13-13. Crawford put the Stags back in front with another three pointer at 16-13. The Saints responded with four straight points to take the lead at 17-16 with 8:07 on the clock.

                The Stags would score only two points over a seven-minute span which allowed the Saints to build a modest seven-point lead at 25-17 after a jumper from Brandon Walters. Jamel Fields nearly cut that deficit in half with a three pointer from the corner, but Rob Poole responded with his second three pointer of the half to regain the seven-point lead at 28-21 with 3:34 remaining. Wade went on his own personal run by outscoring Siena by a 9-2 count over the final four minutes to pull the Stags within two points, 32-30.

                Fairfield tallied 10 field goals in the first half, eight of which were from behind the arc. Siena nearly matched the Stags in that category with six three pointers, finishing with 13 field goals. Wade, who had reached double figures just once in the first 14 games, finished the opening 20 minutes with a season-high 16 points. The Stags top three scorers combined for just three points, which came on one shot from Olander at the 14:14 mark. Siena ended the half by shooting 61 percent from the field (13 of 21) and 67 percent from three-point range (6 of 9), while the Stags struggled at 31 percent from the field  (10 of 32) but 47 percent from beyond the arc (8 of 17).

                The Stags started the second half with a jumper from Maurice Barrow to tie the game, and quickly slipped into pressure defense that threw the Saints off their first half success. Downey regained the lead  with a jumper, but Derek Needham connected from downtown to give Fairfield the lead at 35-34. After Siena took the lead on OD Anosike's drive, Wade picked up where he left off in the opening half with his fifth three pointer of the game to give the Stags a 38-36 advantage.

                Siena took control once again by scoring eight of the next nine points to hold a 44-39 edge with 13:19 remaining as Anosike scored four of those markers. Needham stopped the momentum with another three pointer, the team's third of the half, that cut the gap to four points at 46-42. However, Siena went on a 17-7 run to flush out its lead at 63-49 with six minutes remaining in the game.

                The Stags could not cut it down to single digits the rest of the way, leading to the Saints 73-60 win.

Fairfield will take the court on Sunday when it heads to Manhattan College for a 2 pm match up with the Jaspers.