Fairfield 88, Rider 76

2/16/2008 4:12 PM

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) -Warren Edney and Marty O'Sullivan each scored a career-high 18 points to lead Fairfield University in an 88-76 victory over Rider on Saturday.

The Stags (11-14, 9-6) outscored the Broncs 42-27 in the second half to extend their winning streak to four games.

O'Sullivan scored 11 of his points after the break, and Mamadou Diakhate came off the bench to hit two momentum-changing 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes.

Jason Thompson, who finished with 20 points, made a pair of foul shots to give Rider (18-8, 11-4) a 68-66 lead with 7:26 to play. But Diakhate answered with back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Stags a 74-68 lead, and Fairfield never trailed again the final 6:18 of play.

With Thompson - a projected NBA first-round pick in June - battling first-half foul trouble, the Broncs made their mark behind the 3-point line, shooting 7-for-10 from there.

Kamron Warner led the way with three 3-pointers and 11 points in the half.

The Stags used a 10-2 run late in the first half to tie the game at 46-46 with 19.5 seconds left. Herb Allen and Mike Evanovich hit back-to-back 3-pointers on the run.

Justin Robinson's 3-pointer with 3 seconds in the half broke the tie and gave Rider a 49-46 halftime edge. After shooting 57.6 percent (19-for-33) from the field in the first half, the Broncs cooled in the second half and shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27), and were just 2-of-6 from 3-point range.

Thompson also had five rebounds and three blocks in the loss, while teammates Harris Mansell finished with 16 points.

Anthony Johnson added 13 points for the Stags and Jonathan Han added 10 points and seven assists.