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Fairfield’s defense
grounds Falcons
The Fairfield Stags got an offensive boost from an unexpected source in their Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic debut yesterday. But it was the team's effort on the other end of the floor that proved to be the difference in its first-round win over Bowling Green.
Fairfield's defense held Bowling Green to 32 percent shooting from the field and the Stags got 12 second-half points from 5-foot-5 guard Tyquawn Goode to advance to the semifinals of the 40th annual tournament with a 70-60 win at the Stan Sheriff Center.
"We take a lot of pride in our defense," Goode said. "We try to hold everybody to shoot under 40 percent, hold everybody to 60 points. Defense is the key to our winning."
Fairfield won its fourth straight game and improved to 6-1 with the victory. Bowling Green (3-6) fell into the consolation bracket.
The Stags will face Pepperdine at 5 p.m. in today's first semifinal. Bowling Green faces American in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m.
Fairfield forward Deng Gai scored 17 points to lead four Stags in double figures. Gai also had seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
"We've never been invited (to the Rainbow Classic) before, so we have to come out and prove we're a good team, too," Gai said. "The more we win, the more we have confidence."
Rob Thomson had 16 points and nine rebounds, while guard Terrence Todd finished with 13 points and four assists.
But it was Goode's outburst in the second half that allowed the Stags to pull away.
Goode, a starter in the Stags' first six games this season, came off the bench and scored all of his points in the last 8:38 of the game. He hit a 3-pointer from the left side to put Fairfield up seven with 3:40 left and gave the Stags some breathing room with another trey two minutes later to extend the lead to 64-55.
"It was an unbelievable shot for us," Fairfield coach Tim O'Toole said. "We were going to have to hit shots because they were just collapsing in on our big guys."
Goode had made just three of 20 field-goal attempts entering the game.
"I was open and I was feeling the stroke," Goode said. "I just felt in rhythm the whole time."
Bowling Green struggled to find its rhythm on offense, but was able to keep the game close throughout. The Falcons closed to two at 44-42 on a 3-pointer by Josh Almanson, but they would get no closer the rest of the way.
Bowling Green was held without a field goal for nearly six minutes down the stretch, allowing the Stags to pull away.
The Falcons were 4-for-17 beyond the 3-point line. Almanson scored a game-high 19 points, while guard Ron Lewis added 16.
"Defensively, I thought we did a real good job," O'Toole said. "If we were going to be successful we were going to have to prevent them from shooting deep on us."
Pepperdine 82, American 69: Even with their leading scorer on the bench, the Waves were way too much for the Eagles.
With 6-foot-9 forward Glen McGowan (19.3 points per game) sidelined with a hip flexor injury he suffered in practice on Saturday, forward Alex Acker and guard Terrance Johnson combined for 29 points to lead the Waves.
Acker finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Johnson had 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting and center Jesse Pinegar had 12 points and five rebounds.
"We're pretty small with (McGowan) out, so I thought both our centers, Jesse Pinegar and Derick Grubb, did a nice job for us," Pepperdine coach Paul Westphal said. "They both scored and rebounded well and we were able to get by with a little bit smaller lineup than we would ordinarily have."
Pepperdine shot 61 percent (31-for-51) from the field while holding American to 35 percent.
American guard Andre Ingram led all scorers with 19 points and Linas Lekavicius added 14.
Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic
Who: IUPUI at HawaiiWhen: Today, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: Live, KFVE-TV
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
Tickets: Lower Level, $16 (single seats only); Upper Level (adult) $12. Parking: $3.
Probable starters
Notes: This is the first meeting between the schools. ... UH has won seven consecutive Rainbow Classic games. ... Martin is averaging 11 points and 7.6 rebounds in the Rainbow Classic in his career. ... Crenshaw is third in career assists at IUPUI with 382. ... Bradley has scored in double digits in 21 consecutive games. ... IUPUI coach Ron Hunter is in his 10th season (142-127). ... UH coach Riley Wallace is in his 17th season (268-217).
IUPUI (6-3) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Matt Crenshaw (Sr.) 6-2 8.7 4.7 5.8 G Johnny Miller (Jr.) 6-2 9.3 6.1 2.0 G Akeem Clark (Jr.) 6-2 15.4 4.3 1.1 F Brandon Cole (So.) 6-6 13.8 6.2 1.2 F Odell Bradley (Sr.) 6-4 23.2 9.3 2.7 Hawaii (6-2) Ht. Pts. Reb. Ast. G Logan Lee (So.) 6-1 2.9 1.5 4.5 G Michael Kuebler (Sr.) 6-4 20.1 3.3 1.4 F Julian Sensley (So.) 6-9 9.4 7.1 3.1 F Phil Martin (Sr.) 6-8 13.1 6.0 0.9 C Haim Shimonovich (Sr.) 6-11 9.1 7.9 2.0