Fairfield distances itself from MSAE

Full-court pressure has been an Achilles heel for Fairfield for much of the season, but the shoe was on the other foot Monday night vs. Maharishi School.

The Trojans (2-12) came with pressure from the get-go and picked up their second win of the season with a 58-22 victory.

?They were very aggressive and put a lot of pressure on our ballhandlers,? said MSAE head coach Mitch Haas. ?It really affected our ability to relax, and because of that, it just wasn?t our night shooting the ball.?

The Pioneers (2-13) managed just four points in the second half, and after Fairfield had an equally sluggish third quarter, it picked things up in the fourth.

?That?s our game. We?re going to pick the tempo up,? said head coach Tyler Miklo. ?It really had to do with the effort everyone put forth. Guys were down on the floor for loose balls and were really scrapping. That?s the effort and energy we?re used to playing with and need to see every night.?

Jordan Leazer hit from inside and Nik Fitch from the outside on Fairfield?s first two possessions of the game to take a 5-0 lead it would never surrender. As the lead slowly built into a 16-point advantage at halftime, much of the damage was done at the free-throw line.

The Trojans entered the game hitting just over 50 percent from the stripe, but connected 12-of-13 in the first half alone. Grant Curran hit all six of his attempts in the half and was a perfect 8-for-8 in the game on his way to a career-high 25 points that led all scorers.

?We?re a streaky bunch ? there?s some games we hardly miss, then there?s been times we can?t hit anything,? Miklo said. ?Tonight we got to the line early, got some confidence when things started falling and it was contagious.?

They finished the game 15-of-20 while MSAE attempted just two foul shots ? Paul DeAngelis made one.

Derek Thatcher completed a 6-0 Pioneer run early in the second quarter to get the deficit down to four points. Laser Nite?s fastbreak bucket minutes later made the score 20-15, but Fairfield went on to close the half on a 14-3 run.

Both teams went scoreless for nearly six full minutes of the third quarter before Dillon Fry broke the ice with a turnaround jumper at the 2:10 mark. Fry ended up with eight points off the bench.

MSAE came up with its first bucket of the half a minute later, but didn?t score again until 2:00 remained in the fourth.

?They didn?t score a lot of points the first three quarters of the game and we had a few chances to cut the lead. But we weren?t able to relax and make our shots, so that was it,? Haas said.

Thatcher made that final bucket for the Pioneers to finish with a team-high nine points and ended an 18-0 Fairfield run that had put the game away.

Leazer and Davis Lowenberg each chipped in seven points and Brent Buch scored six.

Fairfield is free of Southeast Conference games this week and now prepares for Thursday?s boy-girl doubleheader at home vs. Iowa City Regina. MSAE has an SEISC south-division trip to Cardinal scheduled for tonight.