My Two Cents

Holy (blank)!!!
Yeah, I know it’s late but geez, when a team comes back from 27 points down to win a game in overtime and that team is Fairfield, you’ve got to shout it out loud (KISS reference).

Fairfield 101, George Mason 96 (OT)

Amazing.

Ed Cooley just called me at 12:15 a.m. as the bus bringing back the Stags was crossing the Delaware bridge.
“Dog, we were dead in the water,” he said.
Myself, I was at the Carrie Underwood concert at the Arena with my daughter Robyn and was constantly checking the score. The halftime score I saw was 49-30 George Mason.
I checked again … 80-73 Mason … then it was 85-84 Mason … then I saw 98-95 Fairfield in OT and I was shouting “Holy (Blank)”.
What happened? I asked Cooley when he called.
“We started making plays and they started getting a little tight,” Cooley said.
He told me that Mike Evanovich hit a 30-footer with 0.8 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it to OT. He also said that the GM defender hit Evanovich in the (ahem, privates) and it wasn’t called. “We should have won in (blanking) regulation,” said Cooley.
Cooley told me that the Stags were down 27 with 16:02 to play.
That marks the BIGGEST COMEBACK IN POSTSEASON PLAY … EVER. In NCAA. In NIT… EVER.

Checking the George Mason website, Fairfield trailed 63-36 before Evanovich went crazy. He finished with a school-record NINE 3-pointers, including one from NBA distance with 1 second left that tied the game at 87-87.
Evanovich went 10-of-15 from the floor, including 9-of-14 from 3-point range for those 32 points. Anthony Johnson had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Derek Needham added 21 points. Fairfield outscored George Mason 57-38 in the second half and 14-9 in the OT to win its 23rd game of the season.

Depending on what happens tonight between Harvard and Appalachian State, Fairfield is in line to host, let me repeat that … TO HOST a second round game, possibly on Monday night at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
This goes out to all Fairfield students and alumni … if the Stags host this second round game … SHOW UP!!!!! Go to Harbor Yard and scream your lungs out!!! This team deserves it.

Congrats to Fairfield women’s BB coach Joe Frager and his staff and players for being selected to participate in the first 16-team Women’s Basketball Invitational.
Here’s the release sent out by women’s basketball SID Chris O’Connor:

The Fairfield University women’s basketball team will host fourth-seed Towson University in the opening round of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational. The fifth-seeded Stags will host the Tigers on Thursday, March 18th at Alumni Hall, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

The winner of the Fairfield-Towson game will face the winner of the first round game between the top-seed in the East Region, Appalachian State, and the number-eight seed, Charleston Southern. The quarterfinal will be played March 20th or 21st.

He finished in 39th place out of 47 golfers but the key word in that statement for Ken Green is the word “finished.”
Green, the former Danbury resident and five-time winner on the PGA Tour, shot a 6-over-par 77 in Sunday’s final round of the Coors Light Open at the Fort Myers Country Club. Stapled together with his opening round 2-over-par 73, Green’s 8-over 150 total was something to celebrate.
“It’s kind of way over my potential at this point,” Green told the Fort Myers News-Press. “It (the wind) was howling, which makes it virtually impossible to control your distance. You can’t, which makes it that much harder to hit those little things.”
Green, who lost the lower part of his right leg in an RV accident last June, is attempting to become the first golfer to return to the professional ranks with a prosthetic leg.
Nolan Henke played with Green on the PGA Tour dating back to the early-‘90’s and told the News-Press he was amazed with Green’s progress after Saturday’s first round.
“He’s trying to make it work. Give him all the credit,” Henke told the News-Press. “Two-over par out here, in this wind, that’s pretty good playing.”
Green told the newspaper that he won’t play competitively again until he makes his 2010 Champions Tour return, playing with Mike Reid in the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf on April 23-25 in Savannah, Ga.
“I’ve hit enough quality shots that I’m definitely going to play with him,” Green said. “The putter is still with me. I haven’t lost that. The big guy was kind enough to leave that for me.”
And as for completing the 36-hole tournament?
“I’m happy. I finished. I did break 80, and I don’t think I finished last, so I’m happy. It’s a good start. Baby steps are baby steps. There’s a reason they came up with that saying. That’s what I have to do,” Green told the News-Press. “It’s (the game) out there. It’s close,” he said. “It all depends on what my buddy (his leg) wants to do. If he can be calm for a month or so, I can make that jump.”

For the first time since the 2002-03 season and for only the ninth time in its history, the Fairfield University men’s basketball team will play in the postseason.
But it’s not the NCAA or NIT.
The Stags (22-10) will play George Mason (17-14) of the Colonial League in the opening round of the College Insider Tournament (CIT) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.
The Stags had been crossing their fingers that their current RPI rating of 82 and the fact that they not only reached the MAAC conference tournament finals but took Siena to overtime (on the Saints home floor) might be enough to sway the NIT selection committee. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
“I was a little upset that we weren’t even really discussed or thought of by the NIT committee because I thought the kids played really well down the stretch,” Stags coach Ed Cooley said by phone late Sunday night. “But we’re excited to keep playing and excited to be playing in the CIT.”
While Fairfield surged down the stretch, winning six of its last eight, George Mason struggled. The Patriots lost seven of their last nine games, including a 75-60 loss to Virginia Commonwealth in the opening round of the Colonial Conference tournament on March 6.
Fairfield, ranked No. 24 in this week’s College Insider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, posted 20-plus wins for only the fifth time ever in school history. The Stags finished second in the MAAC regular season standings (13-5) and advanced to the MAAC tournament championship, losing to Siena, 72-65.
Freshman guard Derek Needham led the Stags in scoring, averaging 16.3 points and 5.15 assists to capture the MAAC’s Rookie of the Year Award. Senior forward Anthony Johnson was second with an average of 15.7 points a game. He also averaged 9.9 rebounds and was a member of the All-MAAC first team.
Fairfield has been to five previous NIT tournaments (1973, ’74, ‘78, ‘96 and 2003) and to three NCAA tournaments (1986, ‘87, ‘97).

Here’s what was on the George Mason basketball website:

The George Mason men’s basketball team will take part in the second annual CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) as the Patriots will host a first round game on March 16 at Patriot Center against Fairfield. The game will be played at 7 p.m.

“With 10 players in the freshman and sophomore class, it is important for our young team to gain the experience that only a postseason tournament can provide,” said men’s basketball head coach Jim Larranaga. “The CIT presents us with an excellent opportunity to give our players a taste of the postseason.”

Mason is 17-14 this year despite being one of the 25 youngest teams in the nation, in terms of minutes played by class. The Patriots have one senior, two juniors, three sophomores and seven freshmen. Five different freshmen have started for the Patriots this season. Mason opened the year with a 10-1 mark in the CAA, the best-ever start to conference play in school history, before finishing the season tied for third in the regular-season standings. Mason fell to VCU in the CAA Tournament Quarterfinals.

All tickets are available for just $10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling TicketMaster at 703 573-SEAT. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Patriot Center Box Office.

Just got off the phone with Fairfield coach Ed Cooley. The Stags have accepted a big to play in the 2010 College Insider Tournament.
Fairfield (20-10) will play at George Mason (17-14) of the Colonial League on Tuesday night.

Despite a 22-10 record, a second place finish in the MAAC regular season and a overtime loss against defending champ Siena in the MAAC tournament championship game, the NIT selection committee did not pick Fairfield as one of the 32 teams to compete in the 2010 NIT.
Stags head coach Ed Cooley now must wait for the 16-team College Basketball Invitational or the 16-team College Insider Tournament to call.
More to come.

Ken Green shot a 2-over-par 73 in the first round of the 48th annual Coors Light Open at the Fort Myers Country Club Saturday.
Tom Stankowski, Doug Ferris and John Calabria share the first round lead with 5-under-par 66′s over the 6,421-yard course.
Green, a former Danbury resident, five-time winner on the PGA Tour and current Champions Tour player, is attempting to become the first professional to return to the Champions Tour using a prosthetic leg. Last June, Green was involved in an RV crash the forced the amputation of the lower part of his right leg.

Fairfield men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley has been named as one of the 15 finalists for the Ben Jobe Award, presented to the top minority coach in Division I.

Here’s the release sent out by the university:

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Ed Cooley, head coach of the Fairfield University
men’s basketball team, was named one of 15 finalists for the inaugural
Ben Jobe Award as presented by CollegeInsider.com. The award will be
presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I college
basketball.
This is the first year that the award will be given, as a 30-member
selection committee will vote this month. The winner of the inaugural
award will be announced at the Final Four in Indianapolis.
Cooley led the Stags to only their fifth 20-win season in school
history, and the most wins in over 30 years. Fairfield currently owns a
22-10 overall record as it awaits for a possible post-season berth.
Fairfield advanced to the 2010 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
championship game.
Cooley is averaging 16.5 wins per season over his four seasons at the
helm, which is the best per season average in school basketball history.
His 66 career wins are the most by a Fairfield coach over the first four
years of his career, surpassing George Bisacca’s 65 victories (1959-62).
Cooley currently owns a 66-60 overall record at Fairfield.
Under his guidance this year, freshman Derek Needham earned the MAAC
Rookie of the Year, Anthony Johnson secured the MAAC Defensive Player of
the Year, and Mike Evanovich collected the MAAC Sixth Man of the Year.
Needham and Johnson were also named to the All-MAAC team. Sean Grzeck
and Ryan Olander were also honored as part of the MAAC All-Academic
team.
The award is named for coaching legend Ben Jobe, who won 524 games in 31
years. He is best known for his accomplishments at Southern University,
where he took the program to four NCAA tournament appearances and one
NIT berth.
The other 14 finalists include Tommy Amaker (Harvard), Mike Anderson
(Missouri), Tevester Anderson (Jackson State), Tony Barbee (UTEP), Todd
Bozeman (Morgan State), Mike Davis (UAB), Stan Heath (South Florida),
Ron Humber (IUPUI), Sydney Johnson (Princeton), Johnny Jones (North
Texas), Marvin Menzies (New Mexico State), Shaka Smart (VCU), John
Thompson III (Georgetown), and Cliff Warren (Jacksonville).