Jan. 2, 2004
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- After playing three games in 72 hours and traveling better than 10,000 miles, the Fairfield University men's basketball team received a brief rest upon its arrival on December 31. But, the short break is over as the Stags prepare for a match up with Big Ten foe University of Michigan on January 3, part of a quadruple header at Madison Square Garden. Game time is slate approximately for 4 pm.
Fairfield grabbed the attention of college basketball fans with its gutty performance at the Rainbow Classic, hosted by the University of Hawaii. The Red and White posted wins over Bowling Green and Pepperdine to advance to the championship game of one of the nation's most prestigious tournaments. Eleven seconds were all that separated Fairfield from coming home with the title as a three-point basket with in the waning seconds of overtime resulted in a 50-49 win for the Rainbow Warriors.
Despite the setback, Fairfield must now turn its attention to the upcoming schedule. The University of Michigan and second-ranked Duke University are next up on the schedule, and separated by a mere 72 hours. The road trip continues for the Red and White when they battle Elon College on January 8, before returning home.
Four Fairfield University players are averaging better than 10 points per game, namely Deng Gai (14.4 ppg), Terrence Todd (14.1 ppg), Rob Thomson (11.4 ppg) and DeWitt Maxwell (10.6 ppg). Gai took over the team lead for scoring after averaging better than 14 points per game during the Rainbow Classic. The junior also tied the tournament record for blocks in the tournament with 16. He averages nearly a double-double for the season with 9.8 rebounds per game. For his efforts, Gai was named to the Rainbow Classic All-Tournament team.
The University of Michigan comes off a 61-60 loss to Boston University, leaving the Wolverines with an 8-2 overall record. Bernard Robinson Jr. leads the team with a 13.2 scoring average, with Danielk Horton (12.2 ppg) and Lester Abram (11.8 ppg) closely following the leader.
Michigan opened the season with four straight wins, including a win over North Carolina State, before losing an 83-63 decision to Vanderbilt University. Once again, the team put together a four-game win streak, which started with a 74-57 win over Bowling Green, the only common opponent shared with Fairfield. The streak ended on December 30 with a 61-60 loss to Boston University at Crisler Arena.
