Jan. 12, 2005
ALBANY, N.Y. -- DeWitt Maxwell tallied a team-high 18 points, one of four Fairfield players in double figures, as Fairfield University defeated Siena College by a 77-66 count at the Pepsi Arena.Terrence Todd (16 points), Deng Gai (14 points), and Michael Bell (12 points) also reached double digits offensively.
The two teams traded baskets to start the game, as Maxwell's two pointer and Todd's three pointer was matched by the Saints in the early minutes. The Stags went on a 9-4 run over the next five minutes to take their biggest lead at 14-9. Siena battled back with outside shooting, taking the lead at 20-19 following Mike Beers' three-point basket.
Siena pushed the lead to three points, but Fairfield quickly erased that deficit on Gai's layup and Bell's corner jumper to make the score 23-22 with 5:46 remaining in the half. The Red and White increased their lead to seven points at 29-22, before Siena put together a 9-1 spurt which gave the home team a 31-30 lead. Fairfield closed out the first half with a three-point play by Todd which allowed the visitors head into halftime with a 33-31 advantage.
Head Coach Tim O'Toole watched his team start the second half with a 12-2 run which made things more comfortable at 45-33. Gai and Maxwell each scored five points during that opening run. Fairfield's lead reached as many as 15 points, 56-41, before Siena made one more come back bid.
Three-point shooting and inside play from Michael Haddix put the Saints back into the game. Haddix scored four points while Jack McClinton and Tay Fisher hit three pointers in a 12-1 run that made the score 57-53. A pair of points from Maxwell, Bell, and Todd enabled Fairfield to regain its double digit lead, 63-53, and pretty much ended Siena's hopes to pull out the win.
McClinton led all scorers with 23 points for Siena, while Haddix came off the bench to tally 16 markers.
