Fairfield Holds Down Men's Basketball

Fairfield University forward Yorel Hawkins posted his third double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the visiting Stags defeated Canisius College 65-51 Friday night in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win was Fairfield's third straight and improved the team to 15-9 overall and 8-5 in the MAAC, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 7-16 overall and 2-11 in league play.

For Canisius, junior guard Frank Turner scored a game-high 20 points after he knocked down a career-high four 3-pointers. He also added six assists, four rebounds and a steal in the losing effort. Greg Logins was good for 10 points, while Bob Bevilacqua and Elton Frazier chipped in six points apiece.

The Griffs trailed by seven at 49-42 with 8:03 after Logins drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing. From there, Fairfield went on a 6-0 run over the next 2:11 with Hawkins scoring four the Stags' six points during the spurt, capped by a pair of free throws with 5:08 left on the game clock to make the score 55-42. Fairfield shot 30.8 percent from the field in the game's first 20 minutes but responded in the second half by hitting 54.2 percent (13-for-24) of its shots from the field in the game's second stanza. The Griffs shot 32 percent from the field in the first half and 29 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes of the contest.

“I thought Fairfield played a great game tonight and took us out of everything we wanted intended to do offensively,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. “I thought we had some good looks and we didn't knock them down. Defensively, I thought we played pretty hard in the first half, but when you're not scoring points like that, and you're laboring offensively, it's hard to keep pace and that was the difference in the game.”

Fairfield's Lyndon Jordan was good for 12 points while teammate Ryan Olander added a career-high 11 points in the victory for the Stags, who have taken four of the last five games from Canisius. Fairfield also closed out the night with a 46-32 advantage on the glass and held a 17-3 margin on second-chance points.

Canisius will return to action Sunday, Feb. 8, when the team plays host to Saint Peter's in the Koessler Athletic Center on Hall of Fame Day. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. The game is part of the MAAC-TV package and can be seen on MSG, FSC Atlantic, the ESPN Full Court Package and ESPN360.com.

Game Notes: Fairfield now leads the all-time series by a 36-30 count... Turner's 20 points on Friday marks the sixth time this season and the ninth time in his career he's scored 20 or more points in a game... He enters Sunday's game against Saint Peter's two points shy of passing former Griff Toby Foster for 19th all-time in career scoring... His six assists were a game-high as well and allowed him to pass Kevin Downey for fourth-place on the school's career assist list... Chris Gadley had eight rebounds in 17 minutes of work, the eighth time this season he's led the Blue and Gold in rebounding for a game.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Bob Bevilacqua: G; 6' 1"; Senior

#24 Elton Frazier: F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#54 Chris Gadley: C; 6' 9"; Junior

#00 Greg Logins: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#2 Frank Turner: G; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#10 Bob Bevilacqua
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

#24 Elton Frazier
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: F

#54 Chris Gadley
: 6' 9"; Junior
: C

#00 Greg Logins
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#2 Frank Turner
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G