Fairfield falters in Fort Madison

FORT MADISON - Tate Allen returned to the Fairfield lineup Monday to help score a 20-point home win over Centerville.

Although he may have been a little rusty from the time away, Allen had nine points, seven steals, five assists and three rebounds in that game. Tuesday Allen showed no rust with 19 points, six assists, four rebounds and a steal. However, due to COVID-19, Fairfield had no JJ Lane as well as a few others which meant no bench. Just six players saw action in the Southeast Conference road loss to Fort Madison, 64-56.

The Bloodhounds (4-4 overall, 2-2 SEC) sniffed out a 17-2 start in the first 5 minutes of the game. Fairfield outscored the home team by seven from that point but it was too big a deficit and the Trojans fell to (1-3 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery and the Trojans haven't had a chance to field a full lineup yet this season.

A 22-9 score at the end of the first quarter was 30-18 by halftime. It was obvious Lane's average of 15 points a game would have helped. The halftime helped the Trojans rejuvenate and inspired play helped Fairfield get within 36-31 with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Flattery said the key to the comeback was simple. 'We made shots.”

Allen made three 3-pointers in a row for a 9-2 run by the Trojans.

'He's that kind of shooter,” Flattery said of Allen.

After Fairfield made the score 36-31, the Bloodhounds made two free throws. Max Weaton answered with two of his game-high 28 points for Fairfield to make it 38-33.

It was as close as the Trojans could climb. The Hounds finished the third quarter on a 9-4 run. The fourth quarter started with the scoreboard at 47-37, but the Trojans couldn't get any closer than eight the rest of the way as the home team switched its 1-2-2 defense at times to a 2-3.

Weaton shot 13-for-20 from the floor and collected eight rebounds. Allen's points came from 6-for-12 3-point shooting and 1-of-2 free throws. The other four Trojans combined to shoot 4-for-17 from the field.

'You get big scoring out of two guys, but only nine points out of the other four,” Flattery said.

Isaac Harris had five of those nine points with five assists and three rebounds. Joey Valdez and Evan Haines each scored two.

Fort Madison's zone defense bothered the Trojans early and 'forced them to do some things they're not comfortable doing,” Fort Madison head coach Ryan Wilson said. 'That's our bread and butter,” he said of his 1-2-2.

The Bloodhounds got 20 points from Dayton Davis.

On FMHS' Dayton Davis, who scored 20, 'Davis was good. He's a hard matchup,” Flattery said. 'Their left-hander, No. 3 (Reiburn Turnbull scored eight on a couple of 3-pointers), did well spreading things out. Miles Dear (14 points for FM) does a nice job of running the show.”

Fort Madison plays host to Mount Pleasant Friday. Fairfield goes to Washington Friday.