Trojan boys hounded on road

BURLINGTON - The Fairfield boys basketball team stuck with Burlington early on in Friday night's Southeast Conference road game, but a rough stretch in the second quarter spelled Trojan doom. Burlington used a 27-point second quarter to run away from Fairfield 48-35.

Burlington came into the game a little shorthanded due to injuries and the Grayhounds had trouble scoring early. Fairfield stuck right with one of the SEC favorites, splitting the first quarter 8-8.

Cameron Ledger hit a three-pointer in the first period and added one in the second to lead the Trojans into halftime. The rest of the team, however, scored just five in the first two periods. Burlington outscored Fairfield 19-3 in the second quarter and held a 27-11 advantage at the break.

The Trojans were outscored 14-10 in the third quarter but made a run in the fourth to cut the lead back down to 13.

Fairfield's leading scorer, Drew Martin, was sidlined for a big stretch in the first half after picking up three early fouls, but he made it count when he got back into the game. He scored five points in each of the final two quarters and finished the game with 12 points, four assists and two steals.

'It's tough, especially when he's your leading scorer, and the guy with the most experience coming back,” head coach Mick Flattery said. 'He's going to play hard, and if we can keep him out of foul trouble, that will really be helpful.”

Max Weaton had some big minutes of the bench, scoring 11 points to give the Trojans two double-digit scorers. Ledger finished the game with six poitns on his two three-pointers, and also had a blocked shot.

Elan Ledger scored four points in the loss. Carter Ferrel finished the night with two. Landon Kooiker didn't score, but co-led the team with four rebounds.

After the game, Coach Flattery gave credit to a physical Grayhound team.

'They stepped up with some key guys out with injuries,” Flattery said. 'They had other guys really do a good job stepping in for them and helping their cause. They're very aggressive, very physical, and with our young group, they're not used to seeing that.”

Fairfield is now 1-5 overall and 1-2 in SEC play. They will host Keokuk in their first game of the new year, on Friday, Jan. 3.