Jan 12, 2002
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) - Michael Schmidt scored 21 points to lead Niagara to a 79-77 victory over Fairfield on Saturday in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Niagara (7-9, 3-2 MAAC) shot 70 percent from the field in the first half to take a 45-35 lead at halftime.
Fairfield (3-9, 2-3) rallied to tie the score at 66-66 with 6:33 remaining, led by Jeremy Logan, who scored all 16 of his points in the second half.
The Purple Eagles built up a five-point lead before Fairfield fought back to a 74-74 tie with 3:49 to play.
Down four points with 16 seconds to play, Ajou Deng banked in a 3-pointer for Fairfield. Niagara's Alvin Cruz was then fouled and hit one of two free throws for the final point of the game.
Daryl Greene had 17 points for Niagara and James Reaves added 11.
Deng led Fairfield with 21 points and Sam Spann had 14.
