Box Score

March 9, 2003

TRENTON, N.J. (AP)- Deng Gai scored 15 points to lead Fairfield past Siena 67-63 in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinal Sunday night.

Fairfield, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 1 seed Manhattan in the tournament final Monday night. Manhattan defeated No. 4 seed Niagara 82-81 in double overtime in the first semifinal game Sunday.

Manhattan and Fairfield split their season series, with each winning on the other's home court. Manhattan won 93-86 on Jan. 23, and Fairfield won 70-68 on Feb. 13.

Fairfield (19-10) will be making its first MAAC championship game appearance since 1997, the year it defeated Canisius as the No. 8 seed. Siena (19-10), the defending tournament champion, was bidding to reach the title game for the fourth time in five years.

Siena's Prosper Karangwa led all scorers with 20 points, including 15 in the second half when the Saints cut a 17-point deficit to five.

Fairfield took the lead with 12 minutes left in the first half and never trailed thereafter. Terrence Todd's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer gave the Stags a nine-point advantage (33-24) which they extended to 52-35 midway through the second half on a slam dunk by Gai.

Siena then went on a 20-9 run, fueled by 12 points by Karangwa, to cut the lead to 61-55 with 1:42 left but never got closer than five points until Karangwa's 3-pointer in the final second.