FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will cap its two-game road trip at Rider University on Saturday night, the team's second game in three days. The Stags are in the middle of a five-day stretch that places them on the hardwood three times.
Rider dropped its fourth conference game of the season with a 67-58 loss at Iona on Thursday night. The Broncs held a 29-24 lead in the closing minutes of the first half, but the Gaels scored five straight to send the teams into the locker room tied at 29-29. Rider would stay close and hold a lead at 44-43 with 12-plus minutes left and would be tied with first-place Iona at 55-55 before the Gaels scored eight straight to secure a 63-55 advantage with 1:18 remaining. Xavier Lundy paced Rider with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Khalil Thomas added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Lundy is one of two Rider student-athletes averaging over 11 points per game, checking into this game with an 11.1 scoring average. Teddy Okereafor leads the program with 12.1 points per contest. He is also the top player for three-point field goals (25), minutes played (35.1 mpg) and assists (4.3 apg). The Broncs are ranked first in the MAAC for scoring defense, allowing just 67.6 points per game. Fairfield scored 74 points against the Broncs in the first meeting, third only to Rhode Island (82) and Hartford (80 points).
The Stags shot a season-low for a half when they netted just 27 percent of their shots in the opening half at Siena, a factor that contributed to the team's 91-76 loss in Albany. Fairfield rebounded by shooting 41 percent from the floor in the second half. Fairfield committed a season-low seven turnovers in the game which led to just six points off turnovers for Siena, less than half of the Stags 14 points following miscues. But the Saints did take advantage of their 14 offensive rebounds, turning those opportunities into 22 second-chance points.
Fairfield picked up eight more steals at Siena, the fourth straight game in which it recorded seven or more steals. Over the last four games, the Stags are averaging 9.3 steals per game highlighted by a season-high 14 steals at Bucknell. Eleven different Stags had at least one steal in the four-game stretch with Jerome Segura and Tyler Nelson each picking up eight steals.
Marcus Gilbert netted a team-high 24 points against the Saints, raising his scoring average to 19.9 points per game. Tyler Nelson is next in line with 14.7 points per contest while Jerry Johnson Jr. is the leading scorer off the bench at 9.7 points per outing. Gilbert continues to creep up in the rebounding stats, placing second on the team with 4.9 per game, just off Jonathan Kasibabu's top total of 5.1 per game.
