FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team plays the middle game of its three-game home stand on Friday night when the Stags host Niagara University at Webster Bank Arena. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
The Purple Eagles have won their last two outings, both MAAC games, to even their conference record at 3-3 and improve their overall record to 5-12. Niagara defeated Saint Peter's (63-61) and Manhattan (55-53) at home, a place where the team has won three of its four MAAC games this season. However, Niagara has struggled on the road, losing all eight games away from campus, including setbacks against Siena and Iona. Matt Scott was one of two Purple Eagles to average better than 10 points per game in the team's last two games, scoring 21 points in the victories. He completed a double-double in the Manhattan game with 11 points and 13 rebounds in addition to registering five assists against one turnover. Justin Satchell came off the bench to score 22 points against Saint Peter's and followed up with 10 markers in the Manhattan game. The junior made 15 of 23 shots from the floor and recorded seven rebounds per outing.
Scott and Satchell rank second and third among their teammates for scoring with Scott netting 14.3 points as a starter and Satchell scoring 7.9 points per game as a reserve. Emile Blackman serves as Niagara's top scorer this year, pouring in 14.7 points per contest, including a 14-point performance against Saint Peter's. Scott is the team's top rebounder with 6.5 per game, nearly two rebounds per game better than runner up Marvin Prochet (4.7 rpg).
The Stags came up short with its 86-74 loss to Monmouth University on Monday night. Fairfield led at halftime and held the lead early in the second half before the Hawks found their shooting touch from long range. By the time the game ended, Monmouth had outscored Fairfield by 19 points in the second half and posted the win. Marcus Gilbert led all Fairfield scorers with 20 points while Curtis Cobb tied his career-high with 16 points, the third time that he has reached that total this season.
Gilbert continues to move up the scoring leader list at Fairfield University, surpassing the 1,400-point mark in the Monmouth game. The senior could move into the top 10 for scoring this evening, needing just seven more points to leap over Shannon Bowman's total of 1,421 points. For the season, Gilbert leads the team with a 19.5 scoring average, a mark which has placed among the top 50 scorers nationally all season long.
Tyler Nelson netted 14 points in the Monmouth game which is just about on average for the sophomore. The guard averages 14.9 points per game through the first 16 games and still owns a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio with 54 assists and 25 turnovers. Jerome Segura is the only Stag with more assists, dishing off 84 this year which translates into 5.6 assists per contest. The sophomore is also hanging out with the NCAA Division I leaders in assists per game, placing among the top 40 for most of the season.
