It's become as much a rite of passage as leaves turning colors and falling to the ground. It signals a change of season as much as the temperature dropping from warm and sticky to cool and crisp to cold and blustery. The annual exhibition game between the Fairfield University and University of Bridgeport men's basketball teams triggers thoughts of winter and the excitement of another season.
The two teams will play once again on Friday, November 4 on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on the campus of Fairfield University. Game time is slated for 7 pm. It will mark the first official time that Fairfield fans will see their Stags on the court for the 2016-17 season.
With each change of season, most teams have a new identity and a new look. But Head Coach Sydney Johnson is not looking to tinker with a program that brought forth 19 wins and a postseason berth. Part of the reason for the team's success was its fast-paced play that placed Fairfield among the top 30 teams in the nation for pace of play. And so, the team has unofficially latched on to a new way to refer themselves – the Running Stags.
Adding running to their identity is more than just an addition of an adjective. It's a philosophy, a way that this team wants to play, likes to play, and pushes to play. To further illustrate the point, one can point to the fact that Fairfield's offensive output rose from 59.5 points per game in 2014-15 to 76.4 points per contest a year ago.
Six of the team's top seven scorers from last year's team will return for the 2016-17 campaign. Granted, the Stags will need to overcome the loss of one of the program's most prolific scorers in Marcus Gilbert. But waiting in the wings is another scorer who will leave his mark on the program by the time he graduates as well, namely Tyler Nelson. The guard placed second among his teammates last season with a 16.0 scoring average.
Four of the next five returning scorers combined to be the top scoring freshman class in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) a year ago. Curtis Cobb (10.8 ppg), Jerry Johnson Jr. (8.3 ppg), Matija Milin (8.2 ppg), and Jonathan Kasibabu (5.9 ppg) comprised a rookie class that made many coaches envious. And in the middle of that group stood Jerome Segura, the heartbeat of this offense. Segura dished off 160 assists a year ago and added just over seven points per game, leading Fairfield vivacious attack.
One of the reasons that this exhibition series works is because every season, the University of Bridgeport places an exciting and explosive team on the floor that challenges for a spot in the NCAA Division II tournament year in and year out. While Fairfield has won seven of the nine meetings, three of the last four meetings have been close.
Last season, Bridgeport registered a 15-14 overall record under Head Coach Mike Ruane, now in his 17th season with the program. This year, the Purple Knights were selected third in the East Coast Conference preseason coaches' poll, just one point off the second-place slot held by LIU Post. Bridgeport has three seniors on the roster for 2016-17, namely Montana Mayfield, Stefano Osuji, and Kyle Benjamin. Mayfield played in 25 of 29 games last season and tossed in 6.1 points per game, while Osuji netted 4.4 points every forty minutes in 26 appearances. Benjamin saw action in 15 games and added 3.9 points per contest.
Tickets for the exhibition game are available in advance by visiting the Fairfield University athletics ticket web site. For additional information, please call the Fairfield University athletic ticket office at (203) 254-4136.
