Dec. 22, 2001
Fairfield, Conn. -- Ajou Deng made his Fairfield University debut by registering a double-double, as the Stags defeated the USDBL All-Star team in an exhibtion game at Alumni Hall, 95-91. Deng tallied 27 points and 12 rebounds, in addition to dishing off four assists and blocking four shots in 30 minutes.
Fairfield trailed by one point at halftime, 46-45, before Deng Gai laid the ball in the basket for a 47-46 advantage. The basket was the first of eight straight points for Gai, who helped Fairfield build its advantage to five points, 53-48 with 16:32 remaining in the game. Ray Rivera scored on USDBL's next possession to make the score 53-50, which was the closest the All-Stars would come the rest of the way.
The Stags eventually ran the lead to 16 points at 87-71 with four minutes remaining, before the All-Stars managed a brief comeback bid. Fairfield remained in the lead at 93-85 with one minute remaining following a pair of free throws by Darwin Carr. Jeremy Logan made two free throws to regain the 10 point lead, but three-pointers by Rick Mickens and Carr made the score 95-91. Fairfield inbounded the ball and ran the final second off the clock to secure the win.
Ajou Deng scored 16 points and had five rebounds in the first half, before netting 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the final 20 minutes. Deng Gai (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Sam Spann (12 points, 10 rebounds) each registered a double-double for Fairfield. Antonio Wyche led the All-Stars with 25 points, while Ray Rivera had 24 points. Rick Mickens, former Central Connecticut State University standout, added 19 points to the All-Stars total.
