Game Notes
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team hits the road for the first time in nearly two weeks as it heads to Manhattan College for a Friday night match up. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tip.
The Stags (18-5 overall, 11-2 MAAC) finished up a four game home stand on last Sunday afternoon. Fairfield won the first three of those four games at the Webster Bank Arena, which extended its winning streak to six games. The streak ended with a 96-87 loss to Rider on February 6.
Fairfield has just three road games left this season which means it is guaranteed a winning record for 2010-11. It would mark the second straight season that the Stags have not posted a losing record, registering a 9-9 mark a year ago.
The Stags fell into a tie for fourth place in the nation for scoring defense at 57.5 points in the last set of NCAA statistics (games through February 7). Stephen F. Austin (53.9 ppg), leads the nation in that category, followed by Wisconsin (56.1 ppg), and Alabama (57.1 ppg). Cincinnati is currently tied with the Stags for fourth place.
Derek Needham remains the team's top scorer, checking into today's action with a 13.8 scoring average. He has scored in double figures in all but four games this season. Ryan Olander is next in line with a 10.9 scoring average, while
Yorel Hawkins stands at 9.7 points per game. Olander is the team's top rebounder with 7.2 caroms per contest.
The Jaspers fell to 4-20 overall and 2-11 in MAAC play following its 85-67 loss at Iona on Monday night. Manhattan completed a four-game road trip that saw it post a 1-3 record, all coming against MAAC opponents. The Jaspers have a split in home and road wins, winning two at Draddy Gymnasium - Penn and Niagara.
Freshman Rhamel Brown needs two more blocks to move into fourth place on Manhattan's single-season blocks leader list. He currently has 53 blocks, and stands behind Steve Grant's 54 rejections set in 1976-77. Brown already set the Manhattan freshman single-season mark. Brown blocked two shots against Fairfield on January 28.
Freshman Michael Alvarado tallied a team-high 25 points against Iona, but none were as memorable as the two points he scored against Marist on January 30. The guard banked in a 65-footer at the buzzer to beat Marist by a 60-59 score.
George Beamon is the team's top scorer with a 15.0 scoring average, and places second with a 6.7 rebounding average. Michael Alvarado and Demetrius Jemison are also scoring in double figures at 11.2 and 10.5 points, respectively. Jemison, who graduated from the University of Alabama, leads the team with 9.1 caroms per contest.
