02-11-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
CAIRO - Todd West of Fairfield has had some memorable games.
Surely Friday night's performance on the road at Cairo 'trumps' them all.

Netting 32-points in the contest this 6-foot-2 senior took his teammates by the arm, especially in the fourth quarter, and lead his Mules to a 65-63 win on the road.

Helping to spoil the Pilots' "Senior Night," West connected on 13-of-16 free throws and hit two big fourth quarter 3-pointers to give the Mules the Black Diamond Conference title with an 8-1 record, 17-7 overall.

West scored Fairfield's last 16 points, which included eight straight made free throws.

It was an extraordinary performance considering that West has suffered from bronchitis for a couple of weeks and was visible sick at halftime.

"We had a lot going against us tonight with the conference title on the line at Cairo, which is a tough place to play anyway let alone with their "Senior Night" going on," said Fairfield coach Tim Pearison. "We have three kids out with injuries and illnesses but the other guys stepped up for us tonight."

Ross Basnett (shoulder) and Quentin Baker (respiratory problem) are out for the year while Tim Ukena sprained an ankle last week in practice.

All three were missed but the others rose to the occasion on this important night.

The loss was a heartbreaker for Cairo, who had a chance with the win to climb back into the BDC East race but saw its record drop to 5-3 in the conference, 12-12 overall.

Cairo had not lost a home game since February of 2001 but Fairfield was up to the challenge on this night.

Coming out 'fired up' in their final home game of the season the Pilots were their own worst enemy in the first quarter picking up several fouls, which forced them to play from behind.

Point guard Anthony "Tim" Duncan picked up two early personals and went to the bench with 5:37 to go.

Four early points from Kenny Basnett and West's first 3-pointer of the night staked the Mules to an early 7-4 lead.

But a basket by Byron Johnson in transition cut the Cairo deficit to 11-8 at the first horn.

Despite four early offensive rebounds, Cairo struggled offensively.

The Pilots were just 3-of-11 in the opening quarter from the field when they had a chance to take the lead.

Cairo finally got on track on the offensive end in the second quarter, thanks to the play of Jamal McAllister and Jeremy Woods.

Woods, who scored ten points in the quarter, hit shots from the right elbow on consecutive trips down the floor. His second one cut the Fairfield lead to 13-12 with 6:49 left until intermission.

McAllister's five-point run ended with a 3-pointer in transition off of one of the Mules three-second quarter turnovers.

When his shot fell through at 4:43 to go, Cairo had its first lead at 17-15.

But West kept pace with the Pilots, scoring six points in his own personal run as Fairfield and Cairo matched baskets.

The quarter ended with Fairfield's Kyle Robson and Woods trading baskets as the two teams marched off to the lockers with the scoreboard reading 27-27.

With tough defense being played on both ends, the two teams combined for a woeful 17-of-52 from the field in the first 16-minutes.

Duncan, who had spent most of the first half on the Pilots pine, hit his first shot of the second half to give the Pilots back the lead.

His 3-pointer from the right wing made it 30-27 Cairo.

The Pilots appeared to have 'righted' the ship midway through the period when a Lamar Brown rebound basket, a Woods score in the paint and a 3-pointer by Johnson gave Cairo its largest lead of the game at 40-34 with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

But Fairfield refused to go away.

Robson hit another shot underneath the basket and K. Basnett drove the length of the court with just seconds' left in the frame.

His bank shot from the left side found the mark just before the buzzer to whittle the Pilots' lead to 44-41 heading to the final countdown.

Following a McAllister drive to the basket to open the final quarter, Cairo led 46-41.

But Fairfield took off on a quick 6-0 run to get back the lead.

A short shot in the lane by Josh Braddock, a transition basket by Robson and rebound basket by Basnett gave the advantage back to Fairfield 47-46.

After another offensive rebound put back by McAllister, Braddock struck again on a short bank shot on a post move.

His bucket gave back the lead to Fairfield 49-48.

Cairo's last lead came just seconds later on a rebound basket by Woods, making it 50-49 Cairo with 4:40 to go.

At this point in the proceedings, West took over.

He scored four straight points on a drive to the basket and later a pair of free throws to make it 53-50.

The Pilots evened the contest twice in the final three minutes but never could get back the lead.

Johnson nailed 3-pointer from the right side with 3:54 to play made it 53-all.

West connected from long range on the Mules' next trip down the floor to give his team back the lead.

After yet another Cairo 3-pointer, this time from Woods, that evened the score again at 56-all, West finished off the Pilots.

His 'trifecta' while being fouled by Johnson gave the Mules' the lead back for good. Even though West missed the free throw, Fairfield led 59-56.

Duncan scored his final two points on a drive to the basket on the next Cairo possession.

However West was not going to be denied on this night as this junior guard connected on all six of his free throws in the final 1:04.

Cairo had one final opportunity when Fairfield's Braddock missed two free throws with :30 to go.

The Pilots at this point trailed 63-61 but they failed to capitalize in the waning moments.

Three straight missed shots and a late turnover on a scramble for the ball in the paint doomed Coach Baldwin's club on this one possession.

Two more West free throws iced the game and when McAllister tipped in a missed shot in the final moments, Fairfield didn't have to inbound the ball as the clock ran out on the Cairo's 23-game home winning streak.

"We've got some good leadership on this team. Josh Braddock and Todd West have really stepped up for us this season, especially these last few games," added Pearison, whose club now looks at playing in the first annual Black Diamond Conference Shootout Saturday night against Carterville, a team the Mules topped 71-67 at home back on February 1. "We've had a lot of kids step up at crucial times this season."

Coach Baldwin can point to his teams' poor field goal shooting as the Pilots hit just 23-of-64 shots.

Despite holding a 32-25 rebounding edge, Cairo couldn't take advantage of the Mules inside the paint.

"We had some matchup problems with them, especially the Braddock kid in the paint," said Baldwin.
"We don't have the big guys that can step up and guard other teams with that sort of size. "We have had problems with that all year, trying to make post players out of guards. I can't complain about our effort. We played hard tonight but Fairfield hung with us and shot the ball exceptionally well down the stretch."

The Mules finished the night 20-of-46 but they hit 7-of-11 attempts in the final quarter.

Cairo was led in scoring by Woods with 17-points while McAllister added 15 and Johnson chipped in 12.

Fairfield got 12-points from Braddock, 11 from Robson and 10 from Basnett as just four Mules scored in the contest.

The Pilots will join Fairfield at the BDC Shootout in Christopher Saturday night, as they will play Trico.

Fairfield (65) - Thomason 0 0 0-0 0, West 5 3 13-16 32, Puckett 0 0 0-0 0, Braddock 5 0 2-4 12, Tucker 0 0 0-0 0, Basnett 2 1 3-7 10, Robson 4 0 3-4 11.
2FG-16, 3FG-4, FT-21-32, PF-9.
Cairo (63) - Duncan 2 1 0-2 7, Johnson 3 2 0-0 12, McAllister 6 1 0-1 15, Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Rush 1 0 0-0 2, Cook 1 0 2-2 4, Brown 1 0 1-2 3, Woods 6 1 2-2 17, Carlton 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-20, 3FG-6, FT-5-9, PF-9.
Fouled Out - Johnson, Cairo.
Technical Fouls - Rush, Cairo.