Dec. 4, 2006
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Anthony Johnson scored a game-high 10 points in Fairfield University's 67-50 loss to Providence College at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Fairfield trailed by six points at halftime, and was down only four points with 10 minutes to go before a 6-0 Providence run ended the Stags hopes.
Rich Flemming enjoyed his best game of the year in the first half by scoring a personal best seven in the opening 20 minutes. The freshman tied the game at 5-5 with his first career three pointer. Classmate Anthony Johnson pushed the Stags in front with a three-point play on the team's next possession, making the score 8-5. The Friars used a quickc 5-0 spurt to regain the lead at 10-8, before Greg Nero tied the game with a driving lay up at the 14:11 mark.
The Friars built their advantage to eight points at 28-20 with 4:45 left in the half. However, Fairfield battled back with five straight points off a pair of free throws from Herbie Allen and a three-point basket by Danny Oglesby, cutting the deficit to 28-25 with 1:47 on the clock. Providence closed the half by making three of four free throws to take a 31-25 lead at intermission.
Providence used a quick run at the start of the second half to reach a double digit lead at 40-29 with 15:45 left, as Dwain Williams scored five of those points. Williams played a big role in the second half, scoring 16 points which mostly came off four three-point baskets.
After falling behind by 11 points, Fairfield climbed back into the game with 12-5 run that made the score 45-41 with 10 minutes remaining. Michael Van Schaick and Anthony Johnson each had a three-point play during the run, with Johnson's ending the run. However, Providence answered with back-to-back three pointers by Williams to push the lead back to 10 points with 9:06 showing on the clock. The Stags never came closer than eight points from that point.
Greg Nero, Van Schaick, and Flemming each scored nine points for the Stags. Williams led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Herbert Hill's 18 points and Weyinmi Efejuku's 17 points for the Friars.
