Game Notes
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team hosts Austin Peay State University in a Sears BracketBusters game on Saturday afternoon. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPNU, beginning at 1 pm.
The doubleheader will also include the Fairfield women's basketball team in a conference match up with Loyola University at 3:30 pm. At halftime of the men's game, the University community will honor former Head Coach Fred Barakat. Between games, the 1985-86 men's basketball team will be honored for winning the first-ever NCAA Division I NCAA tournament bid, while the 2000--01 women's basketball team will celebrate their at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Stags bring a 21-5 overall record and a 14-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) slate into today's game after posting a 61-54 win over Marist College. The victory secured the number one seed in the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC tournament.
Fairfield won its second outright MAAC regular-season championship on Wednesday. The 1985-86 Stags also won the title with a 13-1 record. Fairfield won a co-regular season championship in 1995-96, tying with Iona, but became the two-seed in the tournament after tie breakers were applied.
Derek Needham leads the team in scoring with a 14.4 scoring average, which also places sixth among the MAAC scoring leaders. Ryan Olander is next in line with a 10.6 scoring average. He averages a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game,
The Governors bring a 17-11 overall record and an 11-5 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) mark into today's game. The team has won its last two games, including a 73-70 decision over Jacksonville State on February 15. Austin Peay started the season by playing nine straight games away from campus (seven away, two neutral),posting a 5-4 record in those contests.
Austin Peay has reached the 100-point mark three times this season, posting a 2-1 mark in those games. The Governors scored a season-high 112 points in a 50-point victory against Fontbonne in mid-December, and also hit the mark against Brescia (101-46 win). The loss came to Lipscomb in overtime, a 104-101 decision.
Overtime is nothing new for Austin Peay, having played six games with extra time this season. The most notable overtime game came against the University of Memphis, which resulted in an 80-78 setback on the road. The team owns a 2-4 record in overtime this season, but has a 2-1 mark against OVC teams in those games.
Tyshwan Edmondson leads the team in scoring with a 17.4 scoring average, one of two Governors in double figures. Josh Terry checks in with an 11.0 scoring average and leads the team with 51 steals in 27 games.
