ALBANY, N.Y. -- It was a valiant attempt by the Fairfield University men's basketball team, erasing a 19-point first-half deficit, but Siena College still managed to pick up the victory as the Saints posted an 80-73 win at the Times Union Center.
“I am proud of the way this team came back,” Head Coach Sydney Johnson said. “We played a tremendous team tonight I think they gave me everything I could ask of them (team) so it's something we can build on and put ourselves into a better position the next time out.”
The Stags almost pulled off another miraculous comeback this evening, using a strong second-half run which culminated with Matija Milin tying the score at 58-58 with 7:55 left in the second half. Just five minutes earlier, Brett Bisping gave the Saints a 16-point lead at 58-42 with 12:40 on the clock. Amadou Sidibe, who registered his fourth straight double-double tonight, started the rally with a pair of paint points, which Tyler Nelson followed with a jumper.
Milin kept the string intact with five straight points that changed the score to 58-51 in favor of the home team. Sidibe made it a five point game with another basket, and Nelson tacked on a three-point shot, bringing the Stags within a pair of points, 58-56 with eight minutes remaining.
After Milin tied the game at 58, Siena put together seven straight points to open a seven-point lead, a margin which would eventually reach 13 points, to regain momentum. Still, the 13-point deficit did not intimidate the Stags as they made another run that cut the lead to four points at 77-73 with 17 seconds remaining. But there was enough time for Fairfield to finish off another run at the Saints.
Siena used a strong first-half start to put Fairfield in what at the time seemed to be an insurmountable deficit. After the Stags scored the game's first four points, Siena used a 27-4 run over seven minutes to secure a 27-8 lead. Fairfield managed to pull within 10 points by halftime, 42-32, but could not really make any headway until that stretch midway through the half.
“Siena did everything that they do well during that run,” Johnson said. “But what I liked about our team in that situation was that they did not let that run define us as a team. We fought back and made it a game again.”
Nelson finished the game with a team-high 23 points while Sidibe added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Cobb also found his shot in the second half, scoring 13 points over the final 20 minutes to finish with 19 points.
Nico Clareth led all Siena scorers with 33 points, netting seven of 15 three-point field goals.
The Stags return to action on Tuesday night when they host Bucknell University at Webster Bank Arena. Game time is 7 pm.
