SPRINGFIELD – Coming into the third Quarterfinal at the MassMutual Center, the MAAC was featuring two of its best defensive teams in seventh-seeded Fairfield and second-seeded Rider.

Whenever Fairfield head coach Sydney Johnson needed his team to make plays, they managed to get the critical bounces in a 43-42 victory over second-seeded Rider Saturday.

“We played motivated basketball,” Johnson said. ” [Needham, Nickerson] have been a joy to coach and they willed us to a win.”

“Derek was outstanding in terms of literally willing us to a win and Colin’s been remarkable. We just don’t want to go home and we are doing our best to stay in Springfield for as long as possible so it’s pretty fun right now.”

Senior Colin Nickerson inbounded the ball with 6.8 seconds left, in what was likely the last milliseconds he threw one up for his teammate Derek Needham covered by Zedric Sadler.

Sadler’s back hand touched the ball and a scramble ensued but Fairfield found the ball and passed it to Needham where he was fouled with 3.3 seconds left. His two free throws gave the Stags a 43-40 lead.

Rider’s ensuing inbounds Nurideen Lindsey had the ball at half court and was fouled by Coleman Johnson with 1.2 left. Lindsey made the first but accidentally made the second to cut the lead to 43-42.

Rider head coach Kevin Baggett said that they were planning for Lindsey to miss the second free throw but he accidentally made it.

“We were trying to,” Baggett said of planning for a Lindsey miss. “He just made it.”

Needham returned to the line with 0.9 seconds left, missing both and a desperation heave from Anthony Myles was released after the buzzer sounded to give Fairfield the 43-42 victory in the MAAC Quarterfinals.

“The week we had off from the MAAC tournament I was getting up shots up at night,” Needham said. “Our strength coach at the end of shooting [said] do wind sprints, then walk to the free throw line.”

“That’s all I thought about every time I went to the free throw line. Derek you’ve been here before, you’ve done this in your gym, in your own comfort, let’s knock these free throws down.”

Of Needham’s 19 points, 11 were in the final 3:54. The senior added eight of 12 from the line.

Needham had the ball in his hands and drew a foul on Anthony Myles on a drive to the basket. His two free throws gave Fairfield a 39-36 lead with 37.1 seconds left. Myles drove to the basket and his two free throws cut it back to one 39-38 with 21.5 left.

Needham went back to the line after being fouled by Thompson with 18.9 seconds left, he made both and extended the lead back to 41-38.

Fairfield freshman Coleman Johnson made a 15-footer to cut the game to a 34-32 Rider lead with 4:57 left. After a Fairfield timeout, Rider tried to back down with Daniel Stewart but he was called for a charge drawn by Mo Barrow.

The Fairfield seniors willed the team to the semifinals, making big plays during the final four minutes. After Daniel Stewart missed the front end of a one-and-one, Fairfield’s senior Needham nailed a three pointer to give the Stags a 35-34 lead with 3:40 left. Johnson could be seen at the Fairfield bench pound his hands on the floor to pump up his seniors.

“I got a little excited,” Nickerson said. “He’s a very intense coach, he gets us riled up as well as our other teammates so it’s good to have him coaching like that.”

“That was sign language for we need a stop,” Needham said.

After Barrow added two free throws to extend the lead to four, Needham picked off a Anthony Myles pass.

The Stags couldn’t convert on the offensive end but when Rider tried to come back on the ensuing possession, Myles’ putback missed and the ball went out to midcourt. Desmond Wade went to the ground near center court, calling a timeout with 1:55 left.

The game never was outside of a margin of four points throughout. Needham led all scorers with 19 points, Jon Thompson led the Broncs with 12 points.

This game is the second fewest points scored in a MAAC game, second to Marist’s 43-40 victory over Iona in 2009. Fairfield’s 43 to win ties the lowest-scoring point total for a winning team with Marist.

“I don’t know if you’ll believe this, I talked to my wife this morning and I said ‘Honey, I don’t care with we win by one point with the other team making the basket for us as long as we win’,” Johnson said.

“There’s something special about the guts these guys have shown, I’m embracing that not fighting it at all.”

The third quarterfinal in MAAC play featured more turnovers (35) than made field goals (27). However it was the second seeded Broncs who were doomed with no assists, 21 turnovers and making 61.5% of their free throws for the night.

“21 turnovers, no assists and you’re 16 for 26 from the free throw line especially the big ones coming down the stretch when we needed to make them,” Baggett said. “Daniel Stewart steps up in a one-and-one, it’s a crucial time in the game, those guys made theirs. They’re going to cost you a game. Free throws cost you games it’s not just our players it’s nationwide, I don’t think kids understand how important free throws are.”

Johnson said he is not a believer in fouling when ahead but his bench said the gamble would pay off.

“I haven’t really ever coached my teams to foul down the strech but I just had a feeling,” Johnson said. “They’re a good three-point shooting team and they’ve got big guards. There was not a lot of time left so we rolled the dice.”

“In terms of the free throw assistant coaches were right on it, you miss a free throw that came from the bench and I just let these guys know you miss that free throw. There’s nothing really no opportunity for them to make a hail mary or touchdown pass so I thought that was excellent with our assistant coaches. The intentional foul was just a whim that I had that seemed to pay off.”

Fairfield freshman Marcus Gilbert exited the floor with 7:23 left with what looked to be a finger injury. Johnson said he’s not sure to what extent the injury.

“He hit his finger pretty hard,” Johnson said. “The kid’s as tough as they come, he’s not as vocal or as boisterous as other guys but he has some hardness to him but we’ll see.” “He had it taped up at the end. If [Gilbert] can play he’s definitely playing, he should stay in everybody’s scouting report. We’ll see, right now it’s too early to know exactly how bad it is, if it is bad.”

Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for Big Apple Buckets, follow him on twitter @ryanarestivo.