Nov. 19, 2006
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HARTFORD, Conn. - Coaches enjoy wins. One might even say that coaches savor wins. So it's certainly understandable that Head Coach Ed Cooley had a smile on his face when the final buzzer sounded, giving the Fairfield University men's basketball team a 46-43 win over Central Arkansas in the final game of the Hispanic College Fund Classic. More importantly, it gave Coach Cooley his first win as a college head coach.
"I am really enjoying this one," Cooley said in the post-game press conference. "It's a very special win because you can only get your first win once. This win came about because of the hard work of our players, of my assistant coaches, and everyone who is associated with the program. I share this win with everyone."
The Stags led for most of the game with the exception of a couple of one-point leads and one two-point advantage in the first 12 minutes of the game. Frederick Campbell's jumper at the 8:25 mark pushed Central Arkansas into the lead for the last time at 14-13.
On the Stags' next possession, Mike Van Schaick hit a jumper that gave Fairfield a 15-14 advantage, but more importantly, started a 9-1 run over the next six minutes that gave the Stags their biggest lead of the half at 22-15. The seven-point lead stayed intact by the time intermission rolled around, as the Stags went into the locker room with a 24-17 advantage. Greg Nero's jumper at the buzzer finished the scoring and gave the rookie a team-high eight first-half points.
Coach Cooley watched his team start the second half with a 6-2 spurt that gave the designated home team a double-digit lead at 30-19 with 18:22 left on the clock. The double-figure advantage remained for nearly eight more minutes, which peaked at 40-27 with 10:30 left on the clock. Things began to turn for the Stags after Nero's two free throws increased the lead to 13 points.
Central Arkansas scored five straight points to cut the lead to eight points at 40-32, but Marty O'Sullivan's jumper quickly regained the double-digit lead at 42-32 with 8:43 on the clock. That was a key basket for Fairfield in that it would be the last the team would score for the rest of the game.
The Bears used the Stags' offensive slump to carve into the lead, which dwindled to one point after LeMar Phillips hit a pair of free throws that made the score 42-41 with 2:58 remaining. Nero made a pair of clutch charity tossed to give his team a little breathing room at 44-41, but Phillips came right back on the next possession and hit a jumper to close the gap back to one point.
Neither team would score another point for more than two minutes, a drought which ended when O'Sullivan netted one of two free throws to give the Stags a 45-43 lead with nine second remaining. Nate Bowie launched a three-point attempt with one second left, but it rimmed out and landed in the hands of Anthony Johnson. Johnson was immediately fouled and made one of two free throws to improve the lead to three points, 46-43.
Nero led the team in scoring for the sixth straight game, as he tallied 15 points and added a co-leading six rebounds. Marty O'Sullivan and Michael Van Schaick were the other Fairfield players in double figures with 10 points each. Phillips was the Bears top scorer with 11 points.
The Stags will now turn their attention to Georgetown University, which they will host on November 22 at the Arena at Harbor Yard. But Head Coach Ed Cooley will begin that game plan tomorrow. Tonight, he's just savoring a well-deserved win.
