Game Notes

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- After putting together the most successful regular season in school history, Head Coach Ed Cooley and his Fairfield University men's basketball team begins their quest for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament title. The MAAC tournament is being played at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard, Fairfield's home for the last 10 seasons.

The Stags won the regular season MAAC championship for the first time since the 1995-96 season when it shared the title with Iona College. The last time that the Stags won it outright was in 1985-86 when they went on to capture the first NCAA tournament bid in school history. Fairfield won the title with a 15-3 conference record after collecting a program-record 23 regular season wins in 29 games.

But there are nine other teams who have the same goal, including eighth-seeded Niagara University and ninth-seeded Marist College. The winner of that first round game will advance and face the Fairfield men's basketball team on Saturday at 4:30 pm.

Four of Fairfield's five starters as well as Coach Cooley were recognized by the MAAC for their regular-season success. Derek Needham, who leads the team in scoring with 14 points per game, earned All-MAAC first team honors. The guard was the MAAC Rookie of the Year and a second-team player in 2009-10.

Junior Ryan Olander is next line with 10.7 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game. The center collected All-MAAC second team honors, his first appearance on the postseason team. Senior Yorel Hawkins lived up to his preseason hype, receiving All-MAAC third team accolades after being named to the preseason All-MAAC third team before the 2010-11 campaign.

Maurice Barrow garnered MAAC All-Rookie honors following his inaugural season, averaging 6.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. Coach Cooley closed out the postseason awards when he earned the 2011 The Rock MAAC Coach of the Year.

Niagara enters the tournament with a 9-22 overall record and a 5-13 MAAC slate, which placed it eighth in the final regular season standings. The Purple Eagles are led by Anthony Nelson, who set the school record for career assists on February 25. He leads the nation with 3.4 steals per game, which would break the school record of 2.6 per game set by Tyrone Lewis in 2008-09.

Marist owns a 5-26 overall record with a 3-15 MAAC mark, ranking it ninth in the final regular season standings. The Red Foxes are led by sophomore Sam Prescott who averages 11.9 points per game. Sophomore Devin Price ranks 10th in the MAAC for free throw percentage at .728, a number which increased after he made 23 of his last 24 free throws.

Should Fairfield win the game, the Stags would play Sunday afternoon at 2 pm against the winner of fourth-seeded Saint Peter's and fifth-seeded Loyola.