ALBANY, N.Y. – Derek Needham scored a game-high 26 points, including 17 in the first half, but the Fairfield University men’s basketball team was unable to overcome Siena College as the Saints posted a 69-67 decision at the Times Union Center.
A slow start was responsible for the Stags falling behind by 10 points in the first five minutes of the game. Siena scored the first seven points of the half before Sean Crawford’s jumper put the Stags on the board at the 16:25 mark. Fairfield weathered the Siena run by scoring seven straight points, all coming off the hand of Derek Needham. A free throws and back-to-back three-point shots put Fairfield with one possession at 14-11.

Fairfield continued to make its run until it eventually took the lead for the first time after Needham converted a Colin Nickerson steal into a lay up making the score 19-18 with 9:50 on the clock. Siena scored the next three points to take a two-point lead, but Needham scored once again to tie the score at 21-21. And, it was the freshman guard to put the Stags in front with a pair of free throws at the 8:25 mark. Needham’s charity tosses would be the last Fairfield points until Needham nailed a jumper at the 2:58 mark and ended Siena’s 9-0 spurt.

The Stags pulled within three points after Crawford made a three-point shot at 30-28 with 2:29 on the clock. However, Siena closed the half with six unanswered points to take a 36-28 lead at halftime. Needham was responsible for 17 of the team’s 28 first-half points.

The second half had a similar feel as Siena was able to build a lead and the Stags were able to come back. Five minutes into the second half, Fairfield found itself down by nine points at 42-33 with 17:15 on the clock, this after the Stags were able to pull within three just a couple minutes earlier.

The Stags used a 10-2 run to cut the lead back to a point at 44-43 and at 46-45 with 13 minutes remaining. Once again, Siena was able to push the lead back to eight points with a a run of seven straight points which made the score 53-45 at the 11:58 mark. It took a while but Fairfield came within a possession with just a tick under five minutes on the clock, as Anthony Johnson’s jumper made the score 57-55 with 4:59 remaining.

Fairfield was able to come as close as three points on several occasions in the closing minutes but Siena was able to hold off the Stags each time. Needham’s three-point basket with four seconds left gave the team hope at 69-67. However, Siena ran out the clock to secure the victory. The win was Siena’s 15th in a row and kept it unbeaten in MAAC play at 14-0.

Fairfield will play the second of its four-game road swing on Friday night when it travels to Rider University this Friday. Game time is slated for 7 pm and will be broadcasted on ESPNU.