Sports
Fairfield Men's Basketball Tries for 6th Straight Win When Hosting Siena
Fairfield Tries for Sixth Straight; Hosts Siena in Key MAAC Matchup Wednesday
Riding a five game winning streak, Fairfield University (17-11, 11-7 MAAC) returns home in quest of a critical MAAC victory on Wednesday night (February 24) against Siena College (19-9, 12-5 MAAC) at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport.
Tip-off is at 7:00 PM, and WVOF Radio (88.5 FM) will broadcast.
The Saints and Stags are currently third and fourth, respectively, in the MAAC standings.
Siena has won three in a row. (The Saints host Iona tonight in a battle for second place in MAAC conference – Monday, February 22).
The Stags registered their fifth consecutive victory, 71-59, on the road over Niagara (7-22, 5-13 MAAC) at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston on Saturday afternoon to sweep the Western New York road trip, following the 74-71 win at Canisius last Thursday. The winning streak is Fairfield’s longest of the season, and currently the longest in the MAAC.
Freshman Curtis Cobb led all scorers with 23 points, while senior forward Marcus Gilbert had 22 points. It was Gilbert’s 11th 20-point game of the season. Gilbert is Fairfield’s sixth all-time leading scorer with 1,605 career points.
Cobb has led the Stags in scoring eight times this season, including a 25-point career high outburst against Canisius on January 29 at Webster Bank.
Coleman Johnson blocked three shots on the heels of his career-high six rejections to spark Thursday’s triumph at Canisius, sparking the defense in the last two victories.
The win was Fairfield’s 17th of the campaign, 10 more than all of last season for the rejuvenated program under head coach Sydney Johnson. The Stags’ turnaround is among the top five most-improved teams in the country this season.
Fairfield looks to even the season’s series against Siena. The Saints downed the Stags, 91-76, in Albany on January 7.
Fairfield registered a January 24 statement victory over perennial MAAC conference standout Iona, and hopes to do the same against Siena on Wednesday on Senior Night. Gilbert was the catalyst in the wire-to-wire victory with 32 points on the strength of seven three-pointers, in his third 30-plus point performance of the season.
The Stags wrap up the regular season on the road against St. Peter’s on Saturday (February 27) before heading into MAAC postseason play.
