FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- With a terrific start in hand for non-conference play, the Fairfield University men's basketball team will look for a good start to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) portion of the schedule when it meets up with Rider University on Thursday night. The game is the first of two conference road games this week which includes Saturday's match up at Siena.
The Broncs are always a formidable foe for the Stags as the two teams always seem to play each other closely. Since the 2011-12 season, six games between these two programs have been decided by five points or less including one overtime contest.
The Broncs improved to 3-2 overall with its 70-67 win at Wagner last Saturday, ending a two-game skid. Rider opened the season with five road games, making this the home opener for the Lawrenceville-based team. Rider will play a Connecticut-based team for the second time in six games, having already defeated Hartford in its second game of the year (84-68). The team has hit the 70-point mark twice in 2016-17 after reaching the plateau just four times in all of 2015-16 (33 games). The Broncs reached three double-digit scoring performances in the win at Wagner, led by freshman Dimencio Vaughn. The rookie posted his first double-double with a game-high 13 point and 11 rebounds, while Stevie Jordan (12 points) and Tyere Marshall (10 points) also his double figures.
Kahill Thomas added eight points which brought his team-leading scoring average to 13.4 points per game. The senior already has two double-doubles on the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds at Hartford and 21 points and 14 rebounds at Fordham. His 9.8 rebounds per game are just off a season double-double. Xavier Lundy (12.8 ppg) and Jimmie Taylor (11.6 ppg) are also enjoying solid starts to the season.
Fairfield recovered from its first loss of the season with an impressive 75-74 win over Army West Point last Saturday, overcoming a 10-point deficit with four minutes remaining in the game. Amadou Sidibe's tip-in with 0.4 seconds left secured the win for the Stags. Sidibe finished with his second straight double-double, registering career highs with 19 points and 19 rebounds. The graduate student leads the MAAC with a 10.4 rebounding average and is the primary reason that Fairfield leads the conference in defensive rebounding (28.6 rpg).
Curtis Cobb led all Fairfield scorers against the Cadets, netting 20 points with four three-point field goals. Tyler Nelson leads the team in scoring with a 17.2 scoring average, a number which places fifth in the MAAC. Cobb is a close second in the Stags' scoring race with 16.8 points per game, followed by Matija Milin's 11.2 points every forty minutes. The Stags' 75 points against Army West Point was the fourth time this year that they posted 70 or more points in a game.
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