Box Score

               SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Derek Needham scored a game-high 24 points while Amadou Sidibe tied his career-high with 13 rebounds to lead the Fairfield University men's basketball to a 54-47 win over Saint Peter's University in a first-round game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament. Fairfield will play second-seeded Rider University in the quarterfinal round on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The game time is set for 7:30 pm and will air on ESPN3.

                The Stags could not have enjoyed a better start for this game as they combined to make their first six shots from the floor. Needham had two of those baskets -  a three pointer and a three-point play – that helped Fairfield open a 15-9 with 13:22 remaining in the half. Saint Peter's managed to pull within four points at 15-11 after Markese Tucker netted the first of his three jumpers.

                Fairfield answered with six consecutive points that helped it build its first double-digit lead at 21-11. Marcus Gilbert paced the run with a basket and a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions. From that point, the Peacocks began to find their rhythm and used an 8-1 run to come within a possession of the Stags at 22-19 with four minutes remaining. Tucker made two jumpers on consecutive possessions to help lead the charge.

                Sidibe made a layup to push the score to 24-21 with three minutes remaining in the half, but Yvon Raymond answered to make it a one-point lead. After the Stags missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, Desi Washington made his second three-point field goal of the half to give the Peacocks their second lead of the game at 26-24.

                Needham would answer by hitting a long-jumper from the corner that erased that lead and put the Stags back on top at 27-26, which is how the half would end.

                Saint Peter's came out and scored the first points of the half to take a one-point lead, but Needham's three pointer pushed the Stags in front again at 30-28. The Peacocks would score the next six points and take a four-point edge at 36-32 with 16 minutes remaining. The lead would grow to seven points at 44-37 after Desi Washington netted a three-point shot with 11:39 on the clock.

                Fairfield's defense would kick in at that point and shutdown Saint Peter's for the rest of the game. The Peacocks would make just one of their next 13 shots which enabled the Stags to erase that seven-point deficit with a 15-2 run that made the score 52-46 with 20 seconds remaining.

                Maurice Barrow was the Stags next leading scorer with nine points, while Colin Nickerson added six rebounds, two assists, and three steals to the cause. Washington was the team's leading scorer with 13 points, while Ffrench tallied nine points.