FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- After spending most of the season facing non-conference opponents, the Fairfield University and Manhattan College men's basketball teams will turn their attention to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play on Saturday night. The two teams will play at Draddy Gymnasium with tip off slated for 7 pm.
The Stags are coming off their second 100-point performance this season after beating Bucknell University 101-92 on the road, becoming only the second team to reach 100 points as a road team in two games this season. Nebraska-Omaha is the only other team with the distinction, having netted 100 or more points in three contests.
The Jaspers fell to 3-8 overall following its 76-64 loss at Eastern Kentucky on December 29. Manhattan received a strong performance from sophomore Zane Waterman, who posted a career-high 23 points. The game was decided in the opening minutes as Eastern Kentucky scored the first 18 points of the game and never trailed in the contest. Manhattan made a valiant effort in the second half, setting a season-high with 43 points after halftime while shooting 57 percent from the floor and 64 percent from three-point range over the final 20 minutes. The game represented the final non-conference date of the season for the Jaspers.
Manhattan turns it focus to MAAC play, looking for its first conference win of 2015-16. The team dropped a decision at Siena before falling to Marist at home in the opening MAAC weekend. Three Jaspers are netting better than 10 points per game this season, beginning with Shane Richards who places among the top five in the MAAC for scoring (18.2 ppg). Rich Williams has enjoyed success on both ends of the floor, averaging 16.6 points and a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game.
The Stags continue to impress with their offensive prowess, reaching the century mark once again with their 101-91 road win against Bucknell. Four of Fairfield's starting five reached double figures, led by Tyler Nelson's season-high and game-high 25 points. Nelson and Gilbert each netted four three pointers to account for nearly half of the team's school record-tying 17 three pointers, matching Fairfield's 17 three-point field goals against Maryland-Eastern Shore on November 24. The team enjoyed one of its best overall games against the Bison, establishing season highs for free throws made (22), blocks (9) and steals (14). The team's 24 assists was two shy of the season benchmark set against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Jerome Segura dished off nine of those assists, the best single-game performance since Nelson dished off the same amount in the Maryland-Eastern Shore game. The Stags trailed by a point in the first minute of the second half but used a 14-0 run to take control of the game. Marcus Gilbert scored 11 of those points, including three straight three-point shots in less than 90 seconds of game clock. Gilbert moved into the number three spot for scoring among the MAAC leaders, averaging 19.0 points per game. Nelson places second in the MAAC with his 2.54 assist-turnover ratio. The sophomore is averaging 13.6 points per game as well as 3.9 assists per contest. Jonathan Kasibabu remains the top rebounder for the Stags and ranks first among all MAAC freshmen with a 5.5 rebounding average.
