They responded with points from Easton and Kovacich in the second quarter.

Fairfield took advantage of some foul trouble from the Indians by hitting 6-of-10 free throws with Wells and Keyser being the ones toeing the line.

However Cessna added another shot at the goal inside and Goff converted a three-point play while being fouled on a shot in the lane for a 34-26 lead at halftime.

“He (Cessna) is a team player, he's a captain on the floor and he plays both ends as hard as he can. He does not want to lose. You get the ball into his hands and good things happen.” said Coach Shick.

Fairfield opened the second half and got back into contention.

Easton hit a shot on the baseline and followed that up with a 3-pointer from the left wing.

A cut to the basket by Kovacich on an assist by Wells finished a 7-0 run to cut the Lawrenceville lead to just 34-33.

Wilson and Mickiewicz, nevertheless, responded with points.

Wilson scored while being fouled and his three-point play was followed by a 3-pointer from Mickiewicz with an assist on a drive by Cessna.

Gruen added three late points in the paint and then 1-of-2 free throws as the Mules trailed just 42-37 heading to the final quarter.

Lawrenceville took total control of the game to begin the final eight minutes.

Wilson got inside for a score on an inbounds play to start the scoring march.

Another assist from Cessna found Ivers inside for another bucket.

Then it was Gray's turn to ink the book.

He hit three consecutive shots, one from the left wing from about 15-feet, and two straight scores on fast break attempts.

The first came on a steal by Ivers and the second was an assist from Cessna.

By the time Wilson added a drive down the middle and Cessna got to the basket for a lay in with 1:52 remaining, Lawrenceville led 56-37 with 1:52 left.

“He (Gray) has been big for us, especially in the second half of games. He brings a lot of energy and with fresh legs he knocks down some shots for us,” said Coach Shick. “It's nice to see him come in and help. Aiden Winningham came in and gave us some minutes tonight. I'm trying to develop more than just the five players. If you can develop a sixth, seventh and maybe an eighth player off of the bench it will help in the postseason.”

Barners scored the first points for Fairfield with 1:03 left in the game before both coaches used reserved for the final moments.

The Tribe finished 24-of-44 overall from the floor, 2-of-7 from the 3-point line.

But they connected on 8-of-9 fourth quarter field goal attempts and defensively they came up huge in the final stanza.

The first 10 possessions for Fairfield came up empty and the Mules hit just 2-of-8 shots, 0-of-4 from the arc.

The total was 12-of-39 overall, 5-of-14 from long range and they lost the rebounding battle to the Indians 24-20.

“We have some guys that are capable of scoring 20. If someone has an off night we have guys who can step up,” said Coach Shick. “We've been working on our zone (1-3-1 defense) all year in practices but we really haven't used it that much. We threw everything at them. They're a good team.”

Lawrenceville was better in the second half taking care of the basketball.

After having eight first half turnovers, Coach Shick's club had just four in the final two quarters.

Fairfield coughed up 15-turnovers in the game.

The Mules will travel to Benton for a Saturday afternoon game for its next contest while Lawrenceville will host North Clay on January 13th.

“We got our heads down. I told the kids that it is really easy to be locked in, talk out on the floor, guard your guy and be in help and make the extra pass when you're winning. But when things aren't going well, the mental aspect you have to get over that,” said Coach McElravy. “Out of our kids, outside of Jake Easton, none of these guys have ever played varsity basketball. But we're almost halfway through the season so we need to turn the corner and we have another chance tomorrow against Benton.”