Box Score

                POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. –  Derek Needham sparked the Fairfield University men's basketball team on both ends of the court as he finished with a game-high 16 points and added three steals in the Stags 60-49 win over Marist College at the McCann Arena.  Ryan Olander and Rakim Sanders also reached double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively as Fairfield improved to 17-11 overall and 12-4 in Metro Atlantic Athletic play.

                More importantly, the win also allowed Fairfield to keep pace in the MAAC standings, keeping it in a tie for second-place with Loyola University and within one game of first-place Iona College. The Stags will head to Iona for a Friday night matchup that will be televised nationally on ESPNU at 9 pm.

                The Stags defense was out in force at the beginning of the game, a trend that would through the first 20 minutes. Fairfield forced turnovers on the Marist's first four possessions and the fifth trip down the court resulted in a blocked shot. It wasn't until the third minute that the Red Foxes actually got a shot toward the basket.

                Fairfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Rakim Sanders layup which was erased when Chavaughn Lewis netted a three pointer for a 3-2 advantage for the home team. The Stags would answer when Ryan Olander made a three pointer from the top of the key for a 5-3 lead. Derek Needham would make it back-to-back threes with a long-range jumper on the team's next possession, giving the Stags an 8-3 advantage.

                Isaiah Morton cut the lead to a pair of points following his three-point shot, but Fairfield would score the next six points for a 14-6 lead. Marist cut into that lead when Lewis made a layup, the last Red Fox points for more than 10 minutes. The Stags responded with a sustained run, registering the next 13 points for a 23-8 advantage. Five different Fairfield student-athletes scored during that run led by Olander's four points.

                The Red Foxes broke their scoring drought when Morton connected on a pair of free throws, which they followed with a layup 30 seconds later to pull within 23-12. The Stags scored the last five points of the half, three of which came from the free throw line, to take a 28-12 lead into halftime. Olander led all Fairfield scorers with seven points, while Sanders and Needham added six and five points, respectively. Morton and Lewis each had five points for Marist, accounting for 10 of the team's 12 points.

                After scoring just 12 points in the opening half, Marist scored eight in the first five minutes by using its inside game to attack the basket. Adam Kemp, who was 0-4 at halftime, made his first two shots of the second half which helped the Red Foxes close the gap to 10 points by the first media timeout, 35-25.

                The Stags weathered the Red Foxes' initial rally and eventually rebuilt their halftime lead plus four as Colin Nickerson's three pointer at the 7:38 mark pushed Fairfield's lead to 20 points at 56-36. Needham scored seven points during that 21-11 Fairfield run.

                Jay Bowie brought Marist back by himself with eight straight points, hitting a three pointer, a three-point play, and a layup on three straight possessions to bring the home team within 12 at 56-44 with 4:46 on the clock. Nickerson put the lead back to 14 with a fast-break layup that ended more than five minutes of scoreless play, making the score 58-44 with 2:51 remaining.

                Lewis answered with a three-point shot from the corner that pulled Marist within 11 points at 58-47 with 2:35 on the clock. On the next possession, the Red Foxes came within nine points with Lewis' driving slam dunk that made it a 58-49 lead at the 1:39 mark. Marist started to foul to stop the clock, but had only one team foul with a minute to go which started a flurry of personal fouls by the home team.

Marist committed six fouls in just over 30 seconds, the last of which sent Needham to the line for a one-and-one situation. The junior stepped up to the line and sank both attempts to ice the game with 27 seconds left.

Lewis led all Marist scorers with 19 points while Bowie added 11 points, all of which came in the second half.