Jan. 20, 2003

Box Score?|? Photo Gallery

Deng Gai scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as Fairfield (11-5/7-0 MAAC) bounced back from an early 17-point deficit to topple Siena (10-6/4-3 MAAC) 80-71 in front of 6,434 fans in Albany's Pepsi Arena Monday night.

Siena sprinted to an 11-0 lead and used a suffocating defense to amass a 23-6 advantage with 7:46 remaining in the initial stanza. Prosper Kanrangwa scored six of his game-high 21 points during the run off two three-pointers. Tommy Mitchell joined Karangwa with eight points for the Saints in the first half.

Terrance Todd keyed a 6-1 Fairfield spurt helping the Stags close to within 10 (32-22) at the break. Todd led all scorers with 12 of his 20 points before the intermission. The turnover plagued first half featured 30 turnovers, 16 of which were committed by the visitors.

Fairfield scored 13 of the first 17 points in the second half to close within 39-35 four minutes in.

Tyquawn Goode brought the Stags even closer with five straight points moments later, and his three from the right wing gave Fairfield its first lead, 57-54 with just over eight minutes remaining.

Gai gave Fairfield an insurmountable 64-58, with a three from left win moments later. Siena would score the game's next five points to pull back within one at the final media timeout, but that was as close as they would get. Gai's dunk placed an emphatic exclamation point on Fairfield's comeback less than a minute later.

The Saints return to action at Pepsi Arena on Thursday against Loyola. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.