On Campus

The Hearst CT Local College Sports Blog
with William S. Paxton

Archive for November, 2012

Gibson injuries knee in SHU’ loss to Brown

Friday, November 30, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Sacred Heart senior guard Shane Gibson, who was the fourth leading scorer in the country last season, suffered a knee injury in Thursday night’s 69-56 loss at Brown.

Gibson exited the game with 7:55 left in the first half and did not return. He finished with just three points in 12 minutes.

“We hope to have him back for Wednesday (against Holy Cross),” said SHU assistant coach Anthony Latina, by text message on Friday morning.

The Pioneers are already without two starters in junior forward Chris Evans (knee) and junior guard Evan Kelley (knee) and backup guard Steve Glowiak sat out against Brown with an ankle sprain.

Evans, a former football player at Stamford, has battled knee problems since arriving at SHU, so his return remains questionable. Kelley injured his knee cap earlier in the season and has appeared in only one game. Latina said after the Lehigh loss last Sunday that Kelley’s injury could be long term, but was still be evaluated.

SHU (2-4) has dropped two straight.

Louisville approved to join ACC; Huskies left out

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Several sources, including Pete Thamel at SI.com, are reporting this morning that the ACC has voted to add Louisville, leaving the UConn Huskies out in the cold.
The Cardinals will become the 14th member of the ACC, replacing Maryland which is leaving for the Big Ten. Louisville becomes the sixth Big East school to leave for the ACC. The others are Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

Sit down with Sydney – On the road again

Monday, November 26, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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The 3-3 Fairfield Stags departed for Chicago on Monday afternoon and will play their second straight Big East opponent Tuesday night in DePaul against the Blue Demons (2-3).

Before they left, I spoke to head coach Sydney Johnson about the team’s loss to former Fairfield coach Ed Cooley’s Providence Friars last Friday, how well freshmen Josip Mikulic and Amadou Sidibe have played, the up and down start for Mo Barrow and the future of center Vincent Van Nes.

Sit down with Sydney – Stags off to 2-1 start

Friday, November 16, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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This week’s sit down with Fairfield men’s basketball coach Sydney Johnson takes a look at the Stags’ 2-1 start to the season. Also, we discuss the play of the Fairfield freshmen, most notably 7-0 Josip Mikulic, along with the possible return of Coleman Johnson and the Stags’ upcoming road trips to Lehigh and Cooley-ville.

SHU stuns Yale in opener

Sunday, November 11, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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By William S. Paxton

HARTFORD – At halftime, the Sacred Heart Pioneers seem headed to their first loss trailing by 16 points.
With 15 minutes left in regulation and down 24 points, it seemed all but certain.
The Pioneers might not have known it was a milestone night for Dave Bike, but they sure made their head coach’s 1,000th game with the program turned into a memorable one.
Shane Gibson scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half and overtime as the Pioneers stormed back to stun Yale 85-82 in the Connecticut 6 on Saturday night at the University of Hartford’s Chase Arena.
“This game was different,” said Bike, who collected his largest comeback win at the NCAA Division I level with the 24-point recovery. “The way it was going, for a long time I’m not sure it was supposed to end this way.
“But fortunately, we kept playing. … This was a hell of a way to start the season.”
The Pioneers (1-0) barely showed up offensively in the first half, fumbling their way to a 44-28 deficit with 11 turnovers and just five points from Gibson. It turned darker early in the second half as Yale (0-1) extended that lead to 61-37 with 14:54 to play.
“He’s a talented scorer, he was the fourth leading scorer in the country,” said Morgan (28 points) of Gibson. “The coaches had a game plan. In the first half we executed it, the second half we didn’t.”
And then, the Pioneers woke up.
An 11-0 run gave them life, closing Yale’s lead to 61-48 with 11:14 to go. A 12-0 made it a ballgame again, with the Pioneers trailing 71-66 at 3:34. And Gibson’s layup with 8 seconds left deadlock the team’s at 76 and forced an extra session.
Even then the Pioneers quickly fell behind 81-76 in OT, but their resiliency shined through again.
Phil Gaetano hit a foul shot, Gibson made a jumper, and Louis Montes turned an offensive rebound into a basket. Down 82-81 with 1:27 left, Justin Swidowski (17 points) made two free-throws with 55 seconds left to give SHU the lead and Steve Glowiak sealed it with two more free throws with 19 seconds left.
Game. Set. Match.
“Great energy and comeback by Sacred Heart to come back from a 20-point (actually 16) halftime deficit,” Yale coach James Jones said afterwards.
The celebrating in the Yale locker room at halftime might have helped ignite the SHU comeback. With the locker rooms side-by-side, the Pioneers could hear how happy it was next door.
“We heard them at halftime yelling and cheering,” said Montes, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds. “We felt disrespected.”
The Pioneers were also tried of watching Morgan and the Bulldogs beat them up on offense. Morgan had 12 points at the half and would score 13 of the Bulldogs’ final 15 points in regulation, but the SHU defense didn’t let anyone else hurt them.
“We tried to limit their second shot opportunities, by getting the first rebound and we put on the press also,” Gibson said. “They were getting a lot of comfortable looks (in the first half) and a lot of shots, so we tried to speed it up.”
Justin Sears finished with 19 points for Yale and Stratford graduate Brandon Sherrod added six

wpaxton@ctpost.com; http://twitter.com/wspaxton; http://blog.ctnews.com/paxton/

Fairfield, MAAC team up for Sandy relief

Friday, November 9, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Per a press release from Fairfield:

Fairfield University and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced a partnership to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy last week. The Stags host two conference volleyball matches this weekend at Alumni Hall and will be collecting items that which the victims need.

“Many of the campuses of our conference, as well as member schools students, alumni, faculty and fans were directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy,” said MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor.  “We are pleased to be able to try and aid those in need right now and hope that these efforts will ease some of their suffering.”

At both regular season matches, this Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., Fairfield and the MAAC will be collecting items that can benefit those who have seen their homes damaged or destroyed. These needs include winter jackets and clothing, batteries, baby items such as diapers, and non-perishable food items.  All items collected will be donated to charities in the footprint of the University and the Conference.

As a thank you all donors will receive a voucher for a free ticket to the MAAC Volleyball Championship semifinals on Saturday, November 17, which will be hosted by Fairfield.  The four-team tournament will be played at Alumni Hall, with matches beginning at 1 and 4 p.m.

“Fairfield County, including many of our University’s students and staff, was directly impacted by Hurricane Sandy and our hearts go out to those that continue to be adversely affected,” said Fairfield Senior Associate Director of Athletics Alison Sexton.  “We have heard from numerous alums who want to assist the local community and this is just another way they can support those in need.”

There are many agencies and groups that are providing assistance to those affected by Hurricane Sandy across the region.  Please be certain to research any organizations that you are considering donating to.

A few words with Fairfield Stag Keith Matthews

Thursday, November 8, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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Fairfield junior Keith Matthews returns off a solid postseason performance last year with the Stags where he averaged 8.8 points and almost four rebounds over a seven-game stretch.

The 6-foot-5 forward along with fellow junior Maurice Barrow are the only veteran players upfront for the Stags going into the season. Fairfield tips off at 8 p.m. Saturday against Central Connecticut State in the Connecticut 6 at the University of Hartford.

On having other players, especially the veterans, step up to help guard Derek Needham while the freshmen develop:

“We don’t want all the pressure on Derek even though he’s a preseason (All-MAAC) player. We want to take the pressure off him so guys like myself, Mo (Barrow), Dez (Wade), Colin (Nickerson) and everyone else just have to take the pressure off him.

“We need to play together, do our part, play well and we’ll be all right.”

On season expectations:

“This season we are not going to be picked preseason number one or number two, so we are playing with a chip on our shoulders. We need to show everyone who we are and kind of prove ourselves to everyone again that we belong on top.”

Sit down with Sydney – a new season

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 by:William S. Paxton
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This season’s first installment of Sit down with Sydney Johnson, the head coach of the Fairfield Stags, takes a look at the 2012 squad and previews the season opener Saturday against Central Connecticut State in the Connecticut 6.

Sit Down With Sidney

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