Dec 30, 2003
The last four points scored by Michael Bell were perhaps the biggest of his young Fairfield University basketball career. The sophomore hit a three-pointer in the final minute, which broke a 56-56 tie and provided the men's basketball team with the winning points in a 60-56 win over Pepperdine University. Bell, who also added a free throw a few seconds later, finished the game with 13 points.
The Stags led for the entire second half, as their defense once again frustrated a potent offensive team. Fairfield faced a Pepperdine team which shot 45 percent from the floor for the season, and better than 60 percent in its last win against American University the previous night. The Stags held the Waves to a field goal percent under 30 percent, which enabled the Red and White to take a 27-17 lead at halftime.
Fairfield kept its 10 point lead three minutes into the second half, as Rob Thomson's dunk made the score 33-23 with 17 minutes remaining. However, Pepperdine used a 21-10 run to take its first lead at 44-43 with nine minutes on the clock. The Waves grabbed its first lead on Terrance Johnson's traditional three-point play. Pepperdine led by as many as four points, 50-46, before Fairfield went on a 6-1 run to reclaim the lead on Deng Gai's slam dunk with three minutes remaining.
A pair of Alex Acker free throws regained the lead for Pepperdine, before Terrence Todd's jumper put Fairfield back in the lead at 54-53. The score was tied two more times at 54 and 56, before Bell hit his three-point basket with 48 seconds remaining, making the score 59-56 in favor of the Stags. Pepperdine's Glen McGowan missed two three-point tries on two separate possessions, which allowed Bell to ice the game with a free throw in the final two seconds.
Todd finished the game with a team-high 14 points, while Michael Bell and DeWitt Maxwell each added 13 markers for the Stags. Terrance Johnson led all scorers with 16 points for Pepperdine, leaving the guard 10 points shy of 1,000 career points.
Fairfield will play the University of Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic tournament title on December 30. Game time slated for 7:30 pm Hawaii time, which translates into a 12:30 am start for the East Coast.
