St. Joseph's falls to Fairfield, 60-57

There is a lot that ails the St. Joseph's basketball team, but after another frustrating defeat, the Hawks said a major factor is their intensity, or lack of it.

Outhustled by a scrappy Fairfield team, St. Joseph's lost, 60-57, Saturday at Hagan Arena.

The Hawks are 5-4 and have lost three of their last four games.

"It's really frustrating, and we're definitely not playing to our potential, and I think it has to do with our energy," said Ronald Roberts, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, but only two points after intermission. "Energy is everything, and you have to want it more than the other team."

The Hawks failed to send it into overtime when Carl Jones missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

"I was hoping it would be good, but it just didn't fall," said Jones, who was 0 for 7 from the field.

Chris Wilson made 1 of 2 free throws to give the Hawks a 57-56 lead with 25.8 seconds left, but from there it all fell apart.

Guard Derek Needham, who had a game-high 24 points, hit a three-pointer to give the Stags a 59-57 lead with 16.1 seconds left.

Wilson was then called for a charge.

"I saw panic on that play," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "Chris went too fast."

Needham was fouled and hit 1 of 2 free throws with 5.9 seconds left, extending the lead to 60-57.

Then Jones drove the length of the court and missed the three.

Fairfield, which was coming off a win over Drexel, is 8-5 and has won four straight. The Stags won despite shooting just 6 of 14 from the foul line.

"We didn't help ourselves as much as we needed to, but I felt we kept fighting and battling and made timely shots when we needed it," Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said.

Hawks starting forward Halil Kanacevic sat out the first game of a two-game suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct in the Hawks' 65-61 loss at Villanova on Dec. 11.

"It was not a factor at all," Martelli said, refusing to use Kanacevic's absence as an excuse.

The Hawks received 15 points from guard Langston Galloway and 13 from center C.J. Aiken.

"They played hard," Galloway said of Fairfield. "We just didn't bring it all the way and have to work on it and keep practicing."