77°
FAIRFIELD, Conn. Fairfield University rallied from a 22-point deficit to get within three points of the University of Connecticut, but the Stags rally fell short en route to a 79-71 loss Thursday night at the XL Center in Hartford.
Rakim Sanders scored 20 points for Fairfield (7-5). Sean Crawford added 14 and Derek Needham had 12. Jeremy Lamb scored 18 for No. 8 UConn (10-1).
One of the game highlights was a block by Fairfields Ryan Olander on his brother, Tyler, a guard for UConn. It was just kind of set up where we were going to meet at the rim and one of us was going to win. And I didn't want to lose that one, especially that one, Ryan Olander said.
The block came during a Fairfield run that saw the Stags slice a 57-35 deficit to 72-69 with nearly three minutes to play. Sanders had a chance to narrow the deficit even further, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. UConns Ryan Boatright drained a 3-pointer on the other end of the floor as UConn pulled away
I don't think there's a lot of room for moral victories anymore, Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said on the UConn website. I think these guys know that. We're pretty disappointed and if we weren't, I'd worry about us going into league play.
"We know we were awful for the first 20 minutes. And we know we played well the last 20 minutes," he added. "Obviously you can't beat Connecticut that way, but there are also very good teams in our league and we're going to come up short if we play like we did tonight.
Fairfield returns to action Dec. 28 when it meets Drexel.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fairfield and receive free news updates.
