Feb. 14, 2013

Final Stats

It was the Derek Needham show Thursday night in Bridgeport. Fairfield's senior guard made 8-11 3-pointers on his way to a season-high 31 points as Fairfield seized control early in a 74-52 rout of Siena Thursday night in Bridgeport.

"We just ran into a team that made everything," Siena coach Mitch Buonaguro said. "That's as good as I've seen Derek Needham play, and I've seen him play a lot."

With the loss, Siena (6-20, 4-11) is guaranteed to play in the First Round of the MAAC Championships Friday, March 8 in Springfield. It's just the third 20-loss season in program history.

Fairfield had more points (14) at the first media timeout than it did in the first half of its blowout loss to Manhattan Tuesday night (13). They used a 10-0 run to build a 34-15 lead with 4:32 left in the first half, and led by double digits the rest of the way.

"When you play the zone, you gamble," Buonaguro said. "They made eight 3-pointers in the first half, and that blew the game open."

The already shorthanded Saints played without starting off-guard Rakeem Brookins, whose back acted up during shootaround.

"He's a competitive guy," Siena point guard Evan Hymes said of Brookins. "He gives his all when he's out there. We could have used him bringing the ball up."

Hymes led the Saints with 14 points and made all three of his 3-pointers in 39 minutes. Trenity Burdine scored 11 and Imoh Silas chipped in 10 to round out Siena's double figure scorers. O.D. Anosike was hounded by double-teams all night, finishing with five points and six rebounds.

Fairfield shot 51% from the field for the game and 44% (11-24) from 3-point range. Siena was out-scored in the second half for the ninth straight game.

Siena begins a three-game homestand Saturday night against Loyola.