March 6, 2005
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Deng Gai scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Fairfield to a 62-60 win over Manhattan in the second round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday night.
The No. 3 seed Stags (15-14) advanced to the semifinals for the 10th time in school history to play second-seeded Rider on Sunday.
Gai, who leads the nation in shot blocks and was named the MAAC's top defensive player Friday, had four blocks against Manhattan, passing former Connecticut star Emeka Okafor for seventh place on the all-time NCAA list with 443.
Manhattan (15-14) was led by Jeff Xavier's career-high 22 points. C.J. Anderson, Peter Mulligan and David Wingate added 10 points each.
Anderson also set a career-high with eight rebounds.
The game was decided in the final seconds. Down by two, sixth-seeded Manhattan - which took the last two MAAC championships, including a win over the Stags in the 2003 final - had a chance to force overtime after Fairfield's DeWitt Maxwell missed a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds left.
But Mulligan was unable to get off a shot from 24-feet away and did not draw a foul when he ran into Fairfield's Kudjo Sogadzi at the buzzer.
Sogadzi scored what proved to be the game-winning points, completing a three-point play after a backdoor lay-in with 1:56 left. That put Fairfield up 61-54.
Maxwell led the Stags with 17 points and Terrence Todd added 15 points.
It was the fourth time this season Gai grabbed at least 12 rebounds.
