Jan. 23, 2002
Bridgeport, Conn. -- Ajou Deng scored a game-high 18 points, while Deng Gai added 16 points as Fairfield University (6-10 overall, 5-4 MAAC) won its fourth straight home game with a 72-48 victory against Loyola College (2-15, 1-7). The game completed a two-game sweep of the series, which included a 64-53 win on January 20.
Loyola scored the first six points of the game, the last coming on Bernand Allen's three-pointer. Fairfield crawled back into the game with a 7-2 run to pull within one point, 8-7. The Stags eventually took the lead on Deng's three-pointer with 10:56 remaining in the first half, making the score 16-15. Loyola never pulled even from that point, as Fairfield eventually built an 11-point lead in the half but settled for a 37-28 advantage at halftime.
The Greyhounds started the second half with a 5-0 spurt, shrinking the deficit to five points at 37-33. Lucious Jordan and Damien Jenifer each scored on a layup during the run. Fairfield answered with a 12-3 run which translated into another double-digit lead at 49-36 with 11:36 left in the game. Deng and Sam Spann combined for nine of the 12 points, with Deng contributing five toward the cause.
The Stags kept the pressure on the Greyhounds throughout the second half, outscoring Loyola by a 23-12 margin. Oscar Garcia was instumental during the final 10 minutes, scoring seven of his season-high 13 points. Jordan paced the Loyola offense with 15 points, while Donovan Thomas was the only Greyhound in double-digits with 10 points.
