Rakim Sanders scored 15 points and Fairfield defeated Rider 65-63 on Saturday in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference quarterfinals.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Fairfield and avenged a 65-62 loss to the Broncs on Feb. 26.
Fourth-seeded Fairfield fell behind 6-0 to start the game but rallied to lead 22-19 at halftime. The Stags never trailed during the final 20 minutes and led 47-38 with 6:07 left after a basket by Colin Nickerson. Rider cut the deficit to one with less than four minutes remaining and Fairfield iced it by making 6 of 9 free throws in the final 38 seconds.
Desmond Wade added 12 points for the Stags (17-13), who outrebounded No. 5 seed Rider 36-31.
Rider shot 42.6 percent (20 of 47), but committed 17 turnovers.
Jeff Jones and Jonathon Thompson each scored 19 points for the Broncs (13-18), which had a two-game winning streak snapped.
