LAWRENCE, Kan. – Haskell senior Brady Fairbanks made sure his final game inside the Coffin Sports Complex was one he would remember, as he lit up Central Baptist College defenders for 41 points, while his team defeated the Mustangs 108-79, Saturday night. The Indian men's basketball team won their second game in as many days and in the process improved their record to (10-17, 4-8), while the loss brought CBC to (9-19, 4-7) on the year. 

Fairbanks would find his stroke from beyond the three point line, converting on nine of 12 chances, meaning 27 of his total 41 points would come off of treys. The Bena, Minn. native's 41 point output, though impressive was not his career high. Fairbanks scored 43 on in a game versus Central Christian College earlier this season at Coffin. He would finish the night with four boards and four assists to go along with his game high 41.

Fellow senior Byron Trujillo joined Fairbanks as a sharp shooter from long range, netting four of six shots from there. Trujillo finished with 18 points, three rebounds and four assists. The final senior on the night, Zachary Eastman closed out his career with three points, two rebounds and four assists.

After falling behind 2-0, Haskell would go on a 10-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back Trujillo three's, which would give the home team an early six point lead. The Indians would continue their hot hands from beyond the arc, as Fairbanks would knock down two straight treys of his own to open up a seven point lead (16-9), at the 15:00 mark of the first half. Two more three's from Fairbanks and Donald ‘Trey' Osborne's first of the afternoon enabled HINU to open up an 11 point lead on CBC, with a dozen to play before the half. That cushion would grow to as large as 17, but the Mustangs were able to narrow the gap in the first half's final minutes, as Haskell carried a 53-40 lead into the locker room. Before it was all said and done, Fairbanks finished his red-hot first half with 26 points, 18 of which came from behind the arc.

Fairbanks did not let the halftime break slow him down as he would score seven of his team's first 10 points in the final frame, and Haskell went on a 10-2 run to open up a 21 point lead over CBC with 15:00 to go. Back-to-Back three's from Central Baptist cut the Indian lead to 63-48, but the home team surged ahead, opening up their largest lead of the game at 28 (87-59), at the 7:00 mark. That large margin would hold up for Chad Kills Crow's squad as they closed in on the century mark with 2:30 to play. Luke Lee's lay-up careened into the basket to give HINU 100 on the night, marking only the second time this season the Indian men would reach triple digits. Lee and his teammates would not be satisfied with that round number as they scored eight more in the closing two minutes to push their final total to 108. The team's high water mark on the year is 114, which they scored on the road versus Oglala Lakota College, last December.

On the women's side of the court, Shane Flanagan's squad dropped a tough one to Central Baptist, 66-55. The Indian women dropped to (10-17, 6-6) on the year with the loss. The Mustang women evened their overall record at 13-13 and improved to 6-5 in MCAC conference play.

After trailing 36-15 at the half, Flanagan tried an all new starting line-up to spark his team in the game's final 20 minutes. The HINU women responded well to the switch, outscoring their opponents 40-30 in the second, but ultimately their first half deficit was too much to overcome, and as the buzzer sounded they finished down by 11.

In her final Haskell home game senior center Lois Stevens finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Not to be outdone by her senior counterpart, Kayla Davis also earned a double-double in the defeat, with her 10 point, 11 board performance. Neither of those seniors would finish with the most points Saturday, as that honor would go sophomore guard Sydney Jesseppe, who poured in 19, while grabbing six rebounds.

Other seniors taking part in their final Indian home game Saturday were guards Nataska Rouse (3 pts, 3 rbs), and Sharon Forte (2 pts, 1 asst).

The Indian men and women now rest before hitting the road to Oklahoma, where they will take on Southwestern Christian University in Bethany (Friday, Feb. 17) and Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, the following day (Saturday, Feb. 18).

Post Game Quotes

Haskell men's head coach Chad Kills Crow
On his team's 108 point performance…
"I definitely did not expect to see 108. I knew there was a lot of enthusiasm and emotion in that locker room, but did not think we were going to get to 108 tonight. What a night to do it on because it was a special night for the kids and myself. The atmosphere right now is how I want these kids to remember it here at Haskell."

On senior Brady Fairbanks' 41 point night…
"I told Brady that this is it and if I could go out there and play with you I would, but I am 36 years old and I cannot play college ball anymore. I just didn't want him to be in my shoes one day and say, ‘I wish I would have went a little harder', so I told him to give it all you have today."

On his three seniors…
"Actually I told all three of them tonight, no regrets, just give it everything you have and play as hard as you can, and that's what they did. I am very, very proud of them for stepping up and playing the way they did."

Senior guard Zachary Eastman

On senior night…
"It's awesome being here and seeing all the support. Our coach is almost like another father, because it's hard being here without any family. My teammates are like my brothers, so I respect what Haskell has done for me."

Senior guard Byron Trujillo

On the senior night victory…
"It feels good to go out with a win. I just want to thank my team for coming out and playing hard, and doing what we needed to do to get a win."

On his and teammate Brady Fairbanks three-point shooting…
"We had a pretty shoot-around this morning. Shots were going down, so we came here and just applied it to the game."

Senior forward Brady Fairbanks
On his 41 point performance…
"I did not really have a great night last night, so I wanted to go out with a bang in my last home game. I prepared as much as I could for a game and it was just one of those nights."

On controlling the tempo of the game…
"I felt if we kept up our defensive intensity, we would pull away eventually. I knew we were going to hit shots because we had been hitting shots all morning during shoot around. I knew our offense was going to be there, because it was there last night, so if we kept up the defensive intensity we were going to blow them out."

On walking off the court for the final time…
"It is something you feel only once, but I am really glad that we experienced it today and we had a game like this to go out on."

Haskell women's head coach Shane Flanagan

On the defeat…
"The first half I really didn't think we gave much effort because I felt it was a continuation of the Ozarks game (the night before). We only scored 15 points in the first half, and I thought we were sluggish. They (CBC) zoned us and we really were not moving the ball or shooting it well.

On his team's performance in the second half…
"I started a different line-up in the second half, which we responded to a little bit, but ultimately I just don't think we played well enough."

On the remainder of the season…
"I think this will be a wake-up call for us because we have two big games. The top four in our conference go to the tournament and that's our goal. We have a big week of practice, so we will see what happens."

On the senior day ceremonies…
"It was awesome. That is one of the main reasons why I came here to Haskell. I thought it was such a great opportunity for me as a Native American to give back. I have coached at the University of New Mexico for five years, played Division I, so I have seen big time basketball and was excited to come here and share a little bit of what I have learned. I really believe that if you get the best Native American women athletes here, we can be very, very successful. That's my goal, that is what I am driven to do and I am excited about that opportunity."