National Basketball Association
Northwestern 79, Fairfield 72
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Officials:
# Eric Curry, # Bill Ek, # Ted Valentine
Attendance:
5574
By The Sports Xchange
Northwestern nearly frittered away a 16-point second-half lead, but held on for a 79-72 victory over Fairfield on Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Sophomore point guard Bryant McIntosh led a balanced attack for Northwestern (2-0) with 20 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals. Senior shooting guard Tre Demps posted 14 points despite a 4-of-16 effort from the field and freshman forward Aaron Falzon added 13 points.
Fairfield (0-3) received 18 points and 11 rebounds from senior forward Marcus Gilbert, a preseason all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference pick. Freshman guard Curtis Cobb contributed 13 points off the bench and freshman Jonathan Kasibabu added 12.
After playing top-ranked North Carolina on Sunday and clinging within 11 points with nine minutes to play, Fairfield wasn't fazed when Northwestern grabbed a 27-14 lead on McIntosh's 3-pointer with 8:41 left in the first half.
The Wildcats maintained a 10-point lead at the break and boosted it to 57-41 on sophomore swingman Scottie Lindsey's 3-pointer with 13:02 to go, but the Stags chipped away and got within 3 points on four occasions.
Tyler Nelson's layup chopped NU's margin to 68-65 with 3:28 left, then Nelson missed a 3-pointer that would have forged the game's first time since 3-3. McIntosh answered with a jumper and a 3-point play to guide the Wildcats to safety.
Top Game Performances
| Fairfield |
|
Northwestern |
|
Marcus Gilbert 18 |
Scoring |
Bryant McIntosh 20 |
|
Tyler Nelson 5 |
Assists |
Bryant McIntosh 5 |
|
Marcus Gilbert 11 |
Rebounds |
Sanjay Lumpkin 7 |
|
Jonathan Kasibabu 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Tre Demps 6 |
|
Curtis Cobb 1 |
Steals |
Bryant McIntosh 4 |
|
Marcus Gilbert 1 |
Blocks |
Alex Olah 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Fairfield
|
72 |
40.7 |
7-25 |
17-21 |
16 |
35 |
3 |
4 |
14 |
| Northwestern
|
79 |
44.3 |
7-26 |
18-23 |
17 |
28 |
2 |
5 |
7 |
For more information, contact us