Box Score

                BEHTLEHEM, Pa. – Keith Matthews tallied a career-high 17 points and finished off his first career double-double with 10 rebounds as the Fairfield University men's basketball team fell to Lehigh University by an 82-67 score in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off. The Stags will face Fordham University on Tuesday night in the team's final game of the tournament.

                Lehigh received a strong performance from senior C.J. McCollum, a guard who is on the Naismith Watch List. He tallied 35 points against the Stags, the second time in four games that he has reached the 30-point mark. It was  his personal run of nine straight points off three straight three-point shots that turned a three-point Fairfield lead at 10-7 into a 16-10 Mountain Hawk lead with 13:07 remaining in the first half.

                The home team would use the three-point shot throughout the first half and into the second half, keeping Fairfield from establishing any momentum during the game. In fact, Lehigh would make seven of 11 three pointers in the opening 20 minutes and shot 52 percent overall in the half. Fairfield was not able to regain the lead after that early three-point advantage.

                The Stags trailed by 10 points at the end of the half, the first time this season that they were behind at intermission. Lehigh extinguished any hopes of a comeback with a 7-0 run to start the second half, pushing the lead to 17 points with 17:35 remaining. Still, Fairfield battled back through strong efforts from Amadou Sidibe and Matthews.

                Sidibe scored all nine of his points and secured five of his six rebounds in the second half, helping Fairfield cut the lead to nine points on a couple of occasions. But every time the Stags made a valiant effort to put pressure on the Hawks, McCollum would step up and take away any momentum that the visitors established.

                The Stags last came within nine points at 66-57 with seven minutes remaining, but a pair of free throws from Gabe Knutson and a three-point dunk and free throw by McCollum sealed the Stags fate by pushing it back to 14 points with under six minutes on the clock.

                The Stags handled the Mountain Hawks' pressure well in the game, committing just 10 turnovers in the game while dishing off an impressive 20 assists. Desmond Wade performed well in that regard, registering 11 assists in 32 minutes. Josip Mikulic scored nine points, all in the first half, while Derek Needham tallied all nine of his points in the second half.