FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will finish up its season series with Iona College on Sunday as the Stags host the Gaels at Webster Bank Arena. Game time is slated for 3:30 pm and follows the women's basketball game between Fairfield and Canisius College.
The Gaels grabbed a share of the MAAC lead with its win over Saint Peter's which improved the team's MAAC record to 7-2. Iona defeated the Peacocks by a 64-58 score behind 17 points from Deyshonee Much. Iona grabbed a 16-point lead at halftime and never looked back despite being outscored in the second half. Iona shot 47 percent from three-point range, making 10 shots from behind the arc in the first half and 14 overall.
The Gaels are averaging 82.6 points per game in MAAC play, second only to Monmouth by three-tenths of a point. The Gaels have scored 100 or more points in three games this season, including 101 points against the Stags in the first meeting.
A.J. English stands at the heart of the Iona offense, leading all Gael scorers with a 24.3 scoring average. Recently, English netted 27-point performance against Rider, one game removed from his 45-point effort against Monmouth. He averages 3.1 three pointers per game (44 made in 13 games) and is also tops on the team with 81 assists. Jordan Washington (15.8 ppg), Deyshonee Much (13.2 ppg), and Isaiah Williams (12.6 ppg) round out the team's double-digit scorers. English, Much, and Williams are the team's top three-point shooters, combining for 74 percent of the team's long-range field goals.
Fairfield begins a three-game home stand this afternoon, its second three-gamer in the past two weeks. After today's game, Fairfield will welcome Canisius College on January 29 and Quinnipiac University of February 1. Home stands are certainly welcomed by Head Coach Sydney Johnson as the team has won six of its nine games at Webster Bank Arena and Alumni Hall this season.
Fairfield comes into this game with a 10-9 overall record which included an 88-76 win over Marist College Friday night. Tyler Nelson and Curtis Cobb each tallied 21 points to pace the offense as Fairfield shot 62 percent from the floor in this game. The team has enjoyed offensive success as much as anyone in the conference with a pair of 100-point games and two players who are ranked among the MAAC scoring leaders.
Senior Marcus Gilbert averages 18.3 points per game for most of the season and came into the weekend ranked third in the conference for scoring. Sophomore Tyler Nelson has also enjoyed an offensive surge lately, raising his scoring average to just over 15 points per contest. Matija Milin also returned to double figures with his 12-point performance at Marist, his first double-digit game since Wagner in mid-December.
