Jan. 15, 2006
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Every team needs a player or two who can take over a game and make things happen when nothing seems to be working well. Terrence Todd was that player for Head Coach Tim O'Toole on Sunday afternoon, as the senior scored a team-high 17 points in an 81-75 win over Saint Peter's College at the Yanitelli Center.
Todd tallied 13 of his 17 markers in the second half, which sparked a second-half surge that proved to be the difference on Sunday. Trailing by four points at 59-55 with 9:57 remaining, the Stags put together 11 straight points to turn that deficit into a seven-point advantage at 66-59 with 6:19 on the clock. Todd tallied six straight points during that run, wrapping baskets around a pair of free throws.
The Stags jumped out to an early lead, holding a three-point advantage at 5-2 after Michael Van Schaick's three-point basket. The lead remained at 7-4 after the two teams exchanged baskets. Ivan Bozovic's three-point basket tied the game at 7-7, a hoop which started a 12-0 and gave the Peacocks a 16-7 lead with 12:50 remaining in the first half.
Fairfield battled back with a 12-5 run that ended with Jonathan Han's three-point basket at the 9:12 mark, making the score 21-19. Saint Peter's rallied with a 15-7 spurt that pushed the home team to its biggest lead to that point at 35-26 with 1:58 left on the clock. The Stags managed to cut the deficit to four points by halftime, as Mamadou Diakhate's layup with three seconds left made the score 39-35 at intermission.
Saint Peter's scored the first four points of the second half that doubled its advantage to eight points, 43-25. The eight-point lead was still intact at the 13-minute mark, 54-46, before Fairfield began to slowly cut into that deficit. Three minutes later, the Stags put together that 12-point run that put them in front for good.
DeWitt Maxwell (15 points), Michael Van Schaick (14 points), and Jonathan Han (12 points) also reached double digits for the Stags. Keydren Clark led all scorers with 34 points, hitting 14 of 15 free throws in the game.
Fairfield returns to action when it plays a road game against Iona College on Tuesday, January 17 at 7:30 pm.
