FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- A three-game road trip may not be the best way to start a season, but the Fairfield University men's basketball team does not seem to mind. After winning their home opener on November 11, the Stags reeled off road wins at Dartmouth and Wagner. Now, Head Coach Sydney Johnson will watch his team close out the three-game road swing on Wednesday at Loyola University Md. with tip off slated for 1 pm.
The Stags improved to 3-0 with its 70-64 overtime win against Wagner, the second win in as many road games. The team overcame a 10-point deficit with nine minutes to play but managed to send the contest into overtime with an 18-8 run the rest of the way that culminated on Curtis Cobb's three-point field goal with 16 seconds remaining in regulation. Tyler Nelson started the extra period with a three-point play and the Stags never trailed from that point. Nelson ended the game with 23 points, his second straight 20-point game of the season. Fairfield also took advantage of its time at the free throw line, making 19 of 23 attempts in the second half and overtime.
Nelson leads the team in scoring with a 21.0 scoring average, one of four players averaging in double figures. He is joined by Cobb (18.3 ppg), Jerome Segura (11.7 ppg), and Matija Milin (10.7 ppg). Amadou Sidibe remains the team's top rebounder with 6.3 per game despite coming off the bench for all three of his appearances this year.
For his efforts, Nelson earned the MAAC Player of the Week honor after he averaged 25.5 points per game in a 2-0 week including a career-best 28 points in a victory at Dartmouth. He followed a 23-point performance in an overtime win at Wagner, including the go-ahead points in the extra period. He made 10 off 11 free throws against the Seahawks including 7 for 7 in the second half and overtime. He shot 51.6 percent from the floor and 84 percent from the line for the week.
Loyola looks to halt a brief two-game skid that included an 83-48 loss to Notre Dame on the road in its last game. The contest marked the third road game in four dates this season with Loyola dropping all three of those games away from campus. The team's only home game so far resulted in a 79-66 win over Millersville University on November 14. After that victory, the team fell to LIU Brooklyn and Notre Dame.
Jarred Jones, Andre Walker, James Fives, and Andrew Kostecka each netted eight points for the Greyhounds cause in the Notre Dame game. Loyola trailed by 14 at the half, 38-24,before the Fighting Irish nearly doubled up the Greyhounds in the second half, 45-24.
Walker has been the team's top scorer through the first three games, averaging 13.5 points per game. Jarred Jones is the team's other double-digit scorer with a 12.8 scoring average. Both Walker and Jones tallied 21 points in the team's opener against Duquesne. Walker followed with another 21-point effort in the LIU-Brooklyn game. Walker also leads the team in assists (13) and three-point field goals (6). No Greyhound is averaging more than 30 minutes per game. Chancellor Barnard paces the team with 27.5 minutes per game.
