Gamecenter: Loyola 60, American 52
15 November, 2007| 1st | 2nd | Final |
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| Fairfield (1-2) | 21 | 39 | 60 |
| American (1-2) | 30 | 22 | 52 |
| Bender Arena, Washington DC | Boxscore |
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American opened up their home schedule with a rough loss, giving up an 11-point lead and losing 60-52 to the Fairfield Stags. Garrison Carr had 18 points and 4 three-pointers for the Eagles and Derrick Mercer added 17, but no other Eagle scored more than 5 points.
The game began a see-saw affair. With 4:47 to go in the first half, Jonathan Han converted a three-point play to pull Fairfield within 16-14. American then went on an 11-2 run, capped by a pair of three-pointers by Carr. After Mike Evanovich hit three free throws to stop the bleeding, Carr responded with another three-ball, making it 30-19. But Fairfield came out of halftime red hot, scoring the first 14 points of the half for a combined 16-0 run that spanned both halves. By the time the run was over, the Stags had turned an 11-point deficit into a 5-point lead. Anthony Johnson threw down an alley-oop dunk from Han to give the Stags a 37-33 lead. Carr responded with a three, keying a 7-2 Eagle run that gave American a brief 40-39 lead. Starting with Carr’s three-ball, the Eagles got at least one point on 4 of their next 5 possessions. Greg Nero then took over the game for Fairfield, scoring all 9 Stag points of a 9-3 Fairfield run that made the score 50-46 with just moments remaining. The Eagles never again came within one possession, as Stag free-throw shooting held them at bay. The Stags were led by 15 points apiece from Nero and Han and 14 from Johnson. Han added a game-high 7 assists. |
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| Keys to the Game | |
| Key sequence | Fairfield’s 16-0 run changed the game completely. The Eagles failed to score in their first ten possessions of the second period, going 0-for-9 from the floor with one turnover. Five different Stags put points on the board during the run, capped by a three by Evanovich to give Fairfield its first lead since 4-0. |
| Key sign it was over |
With 31 seconds left, Han missed the second of two foul shots, but Fairfield rebounded the ball and the Eagles sent Han to the line again. This time he hit both, making it 59-52 in favor of the Stags with 28 seconds remaining. Fairfield shot 8-of-11 overall from the line in the final 48 seconds to ice the game. |
| Key performance | Nero didn’t exactly pour in the points, finishing with 15 for Fairfield, but he was able to convert when it mattered most, scoring 9 straight for the Stags at one point in the second half. He went 6-of-7 from the line, and also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals. |
| Key statistic | American fell from 55.0 percent to 25.9 percent in field goal shooting from the first half to the second. By contrast, Fairfield went from 34.8 percent in the first half to 48.0 percent in the second. |
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| Notes | |
| – | Fairfield recorded 13 steals, led by 4 from Han and 3 by Johnson. American gave up 16 turnovers. |
| – | In his first home game as an Eagle, JuCo transfer Bryce Simon grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds, but shot 0-for-6 from the three-point arc, including two misses in the final minute. He finished with 3 points. |
| – | American reserve forward Jordan Nichols was effective on the defensive end, grabbing 6 rebounds and blocking 3 shots. |
| – | Only 6 different players scored points for the Stags. |
| – | The Eagles stay home to host Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon. |
