FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- It's been a while since the Fairfield University men's basketball team has played on its home court at Webster Bank Arena. And in that time, the Stags enjoyed one of their best starts to a season by going 2-1 on the three-game road trip to improve to 3-1 overall.
On Saturday, Fairfield will welcome Army West Point to the arena for a 2 pm game, the first home game since defeating Sacred Heart in the season opener on November 11. Both teams are coming off Wednesday afternoon games.
The Black Knights picked up a road win with its 88-83 decision over Columbia on Wednesday night. For the fourth time in five dates, Army West Point scored better than 70 points. The Cadets tallied a season-high 91 points in its win over Mount St. Mary's, the only scoring total better than their output against Columbia. Four Army West Point players reached double figures, led by Jordan Fox's team-best 22 points.
Columbia looked as though it was in control with a 76-64 lead with just under eight minutes remaining. The Black Knights rallied with a 20-5 run to erase that double-digit deficit and take an 84-81 lead, an advantage it would not relinquish. Fox leads the team in scoring with a 12.2 scoring average, one of three Army West Point student-athletes to average in double figures. John Emezie nets 10.2 points per contest while Luke Morrison in next in line with 10.0 points every forty minutes. Mac Hoffman rates as the program's top rebounder, registering 6.6 per game.
The Stags dropped their first game of the season with an 81-66 decision at Loyola, the team's third straight road game. Fairfield finished the road swing with a 2-1 record which also included wins at Dartmouth and at Wagner. Amadou Sidibe received his first start of the year and made the most of it by registering a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. The Stags led throughout the first half and settled for a 41-39 halftime edge after leading by as many as 12 points. Trailing 47-43, Loyola scored 10 of the next 12 points which not only erased the deficit but gave the home team its own four-point edge at 53-49. Loyola did not stop there as the team continued to build on that slight advantage, using a 19-6 run to take command at 72-55 with seven minutes remaining, the team's biggest lead of the game.
Tyler Nelson remains the team's top scorer for the season with 19 points while Curtis Cobb is next in line with a 16.8 scoring average. Sidibe raised his team-leading total to eight rebounds per game while Jerome Segura is tops among his teammates as well as in the MAAC with 6.3 assists per contest.
Tickets for the game can be purchased at the arena box office or by visiting Ticketmaster.
