Stags Lose 58-55 at Rider

For the second game in a row, the Stags played tough defensive and had a better shooting percentage than their opponents, but lost. This game was much of the same as the game against Fordham, as the Stags could not finish the game. Despite holding a lead with 12 minutes to go, Fairfield allowed Rider to hit open three pointers and could not score on the other end. Turnovers and missed layups cost the Stags the game down the stretch. Fairfield received very strong individual performances from Michael Van Schaick and Anthony Johnson, both of whom were able to take over the came for stretches during the first and second halves respectively, but the rest of the team did not step up with the game on the line and lost to fall to 1-2 in the MAAC.

At the midway point of the second half, it appeared that the Stags were on their way to an important MAAC road win, but instead they are now 1-2 and need to win on the road against Manhattan, a team they lost to in their worst game of the year back in mid December at Harbor Yard.

• Van Schaick was 4-8 from 3 and 5-6 from the free throw line and had a game-high 19 points. He looked very good from beyond the arc and the team did a great job running him off screens to give him open looks. Van Schaick seems to have found the consistency that he lacked early in the season and he has really taken over as the team's leader on the offensive end, providing a much needed scoring threat. Van Schaick credited his recent success to offensive execution.
• Anthony Johnson once again showed why he has drawn praise from most opposing coaches and is a prized player for Fairfield. Johnson scored 14 points and was ten times better than any player on the floor over a 3 minute stretch during the first half. Johnson was faced with a tough matchup, against the league's leading shot blocking team and the second best shot blocker in the league, Jason Thompson. Thompson had 6 blocks in the game, including 3 or 4 on Johnson. However, after having a dunk blocked by Thompson, Johnson came right back and did not hesitate to sky for an alley oop dunk. He also had 4 offensive rebounds, scoring on each of those.
• Jonathan Han, who has struggled lately, had a good game, with 11 rebounds and 5 points, as well as 5 assists, while only turning the ball over 3 times. The Stags need Han to play well, because they have no other point guard options.
• Fairfield shot 38.2% from the floor, and 33.3% from beyond the arc, while holding Rider to 37.5% shooting and 26.1% from three point land. Rider was just 1-for-11 in the first half from three point range, but heated up in the second half, going 5-12. Fairfield seemed to try and lock down Thompson inside, allowing open threes, which Rider did not hit in the first half, but did in the second half.
• Fairfield also out rebounded their opponent for the second straight game, with 40 rebounds to Rider's 32. Fairfield had more turnovers than Rider (13 to 8), and Rider scored 17 points off of those turnovers.
• Head Coach Ed Cooley was very frustrated with the outcome, feeling proud of his team's play, but frustrated that despite the strong play, they could still not find a win. He felt that youth and inexperience has cost them down the stretch in the past 2 games.

-Tom Cleary