Fairfield Men's Basketball Wins 6 of Last 8, Faces MAAC Rival Manhattan Saturday

Fairfield University’s nifty 6-2 spurt following a rocky 0-3 start to the campaign has the Stags above the .500 mark for the first time this season at 6-5.

Fairfield heads down I-95 to Riverdale to face MAAC rival and last year’s conference champion Manhattan College (3-8) on Saturday night (January 2) to start 2016 in quest of a third straight win. Tip-off is at 7:00 PM and WVOF Radio (88.5 FM) will broadcast with Bob Heussler calling the action.

The Stags ride into Draddy Gymnasium on a two-game win streak, buoyed by both a season-high 25 points from sophomore guard Tyler Nelson (13.6 ppg) and a program record-tying 17 three-point field goals to beat Bucknell, 101-91, on the road last Sunday (December 27). The Jaspers had won two in a row,but dropped a 76-64 decision at Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon.

Fairfield ranks third in the MAAC and 23rd in the Nation with 9.9 three-pointers per game. Earlier in the year, Fairfield first set the school record 17 three-pointers at Maryland Eastern Shore, 113-74, which was its only previous road triumph of the season. Fairfield is among only two teams – Nebraska-Omaha is the other with three – to score more than 100 points in more than one road game.

Back to the Bucknell win: the 6-3 Nelson led the way for Fairfield with his season’s best 25, including 12 points from three-point range with four troikas. That scoring total fell just one point shy of Nelson’s career best 26 points achieved as a freshman last season.

Another sophomore guard, Jerome Segura had a career high nine assists for Fairfield, has proven an adept playmaker. Segura ranks second in the MAAC and 44th nationally with 5.6 assists per game.

Senior forward Marcus Gilbert, the Stags leading scorer with 19 ppg, also hit four from beyond the arc against Bucknell, and has paced the Stags in scoring in six games. That includes career bests of 33 and 32 points in back-to-back games against Maryland Eastern Shore and Columbia respectively. Gilbert is third in the MAAC and 50th nationally in scoring.

Along with senior leader Gilbert and the aforementioned sophomore starting backcourt, four rookies – Jerry Johnson (9.3 ppg), Matija Milin (8.8 ppg), Curtis Cobb (7.4 ppg) and Jonathan Kasibabu (6.2 ppg) – have been major contributors to the Stags’ resurgence for head coach Sydney Johnson.

Johnson (9.3 ppg) just earned the MAAC Rookie of the Week award after helping the Fairfield post last week’s 2-0 mark. The Stags had opened the week with an overtime victory against Loyola Md. and finished up with the Bucknell win.

Johnson shot 50 percent from the floor (8 of 16) and from three point range (4 of 8) and was perfect from the line (4 of 4) for the week, starting with 13 points against Loyola Md. And 12 points against Bucknell win. Johnson ranks third on the Fairfield scoring leader board, and is also tops among all Fairfield reserves, highlighted by a career-high 19 points against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Republic of the Congo import Jonathan Kasibabu and Boston-product Curtis Cobb are becoming more and more familiar names in the Fairfield box score. The freshman pair shared team-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece to lead the Stags to a 74-70 win over Rider on December 4. Kasibabu added eight boards to lead the way. ‎The fourth rookie, Serbian Matija Milin, and last year’s MAAC All-Rookie selection Nelson each had 13 points against Rider.

Kasibabu also leads the Stags in rebounding with 5.5 caroms per game.

Last year, the Stags lost a staggering SEVEN games by one or two points, including three overtime affairs. This season, Fairfield has turned the tide, taking the close games including two contests that went into an extra session.

Tickets for the Fairfield @ Manhattan game are priced from $10 to $50, and are available by visiting www.gojaspers.com.

Fairfield Men’s Basketball Statistical Fact Sheet

Team Stats

Three Pointers Per Game – 9.9 per game

• 23rd in nation
• 3rd in MAAC

Assists Per Game – 17.3 per game

• 30th in nation
• 2nd in MAAC

Free Throw Percentage - .737

• 37th in nation
• 3rd in MAAC

Field Goal Percentage - .463

• 80th in nation
• 2nd in MAAC

Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - .368

• 89th in nation
• 2nd in MAAC

Individual Stats

Scoring

Marcus Gilbert (19.0 ppg)

• 50th nationally
• 3rd in MAAC

Assists

Jerome Segura (5.6 apg)

• 44th nationally
• 2nd in MAAC

Assist-Turnover Ratio

Tyler Nelson (2.53 ratio)

• t-84th nationally
• 2nd in MAAC

Team Notes

• Fairfield is one of two teams to score more than 100 points in two road games this year, joining Nebraska-Omaha (3 games) for that honor. The Stags beat Maryland-Eastern Shore (113-74) and Bucknell (101-91) through 11 games.

• Fairfield’s freshmen comprise the top scoring freshman class in the MAAC, averaging 31.7 points per game.
• Jerry Johnson (9.3 ppg), Matija Milin (8.8 ppg), Curtis Cobb (7.4 ppg), Jonathan Kasibabu (6.2 ppg).