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Condensed Game (courtesy ESPN/MAAC)

                SPRINGFIELD, Conn. –It was the type of effort that every coach looks for in this type of setting. It was the type of effort that fans truly appreciate.  It was the type of effort that wins games. And, that is exactly what happened on Sunday afternoon as the Fairfield University men's basketball team defeated top-seeded Iona College in a 2012 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Basketball Championship semifinal, posting an 85-75 win at the MassMutual Center.

                The Stags will play for the MAAC championship on Monday night at 7 pm against the winner of second-seeded Loyola University and sixth-seeded Siena College. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.

                Rakim Sanders tallied a career-high 26 points and completed his ninth double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. But as you watched this game, you saw several other heroic efforts. Colin Nickerson's 13 first-half points kept the Stags in the first half. Keith Matthews' career-high 14 points gave the Stags several leads during the game. And, Desmond Wade kept the offense together with his 11 assists in 40 minutes of work.

                The two teams had no problem scoring on one another as 22 points were scored in the opening four minutes with neither team able to establish control. With the tied at 11-11, Iona grabbed some momentum behind strong play from Scott Machado, who scored five points in an 11-6 run that put the Gaels in front by a 22-17 count.

                Fairfield battled back to take the lead by four points at 36-32 with 3:50 on the clock, as Nickerson scored 11 points in Fairfield's 19-10 run that gave the Stags their biggest lead of the half. Back-to-back three pointers by Iona erased that deficit in a matter of 33 seconds and pushed the top-seed in the lead at 40-38. Iona would continue to hold that lead when the buzzer sounded, giving the Gaels a 42-40 edge at halftime.

                Sanders nearly had a double-double at the half with 15 points and nine rebounds, accounting for more than half of the team's 17 caroms. Rebounds were certainly scarce in the opening 20 minutes as Fairfield shot 62 percent from the floor and Iona netted 59 percent of its shots.

                The Gaels opened up that halftime lead to as many as six points over the next 10 minutes of the game, hitting that mark at 54-48, 56-50, and 60-54. Jamel Fields cut that lead in half quickly with a three-point shot on the team's next possession to make it a 60-57 game with 10:20 left. Sanders followed with a layup to make close the gap to one point. And, Matthews' jumper at the 8:25 mark put Fairfield in front at 61-60.

                Iona's Mike Glover tied the game by making one of two free throws, as the forward would go to the line 16 times in the second half. Fairfield took complete control of the game with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes with seven of those points coming from Sanders. Iona came as close as six points twice, the last coming at 70-64 with four minutes remaining. But each time, Fairfield responded with points to keep Iona in check.

                The Stags took their biggest lead of the game in the closing minute, securing a 10-point lead at 81-71 which would also be the game's final margin.

                Ryan Olander also finished the game in double figures, netting 11 points and securing six rebounds in 36 minutes of work. Machado led all Iona scorers with 24 points, while Glover posted 19 points and eight rebounds.