FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team begins a two-game road trip to upstate New York with a Thursday night game against Canisius College. Game time is scheduled for 8 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Fairfield continues to move up the Most Improved list as it improved to 15-11 overall this year following its 76-73 win over Marist. The Stags, which won seven games a year ago, are now +8 in the win column from last year to this season. Fairfield is tied for fourth for most improved with St. Joseph's (13 wins to 21 wins) and Southern Illinois (12 wins to 20 wins). Tennessee State ranks first at +13 (5 wins to 18 wins), followed by Ball State at +10 (7 wins to 17 wins) and Arkansas-Little Rock at +9 (13 wins to 22 wins).
Canisius enters this game with an 11-16 overall record and a 6-10 MAAC mark after dropping its last two games on the road. After falling at Siena by a 90-67 count, the Griffs came up short at Saint Peter's by a 61-57 score. Saint Peter's hit two three-point field goals in the final minute to rally for the win on February 14. Three Griffs reached double figures, led by Phil Valenti and Jermaine Crumpton with 11 points each. Kevin Bleeker completed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Four Canisius student-athletes have scoring averages above 11 points. Malcolm McMillan leads all Golden Griff scorers with 14.9 points per game, followed by Phil Valenti and Kassius Robertson who both have a 13.9 scoring average. Crumpton has been the top reserve for Canisius, coming off the bench in all 24 appearances to average 11.4 points per contest. Valenti ranks first among his teammates with 5.8 rebounds per game but Jamal Reynolds is not far behind at 4.9 caroms per contest. McMillan is also one of the top play makers in the MAAC, dishing off 110 assists in 27 starts for an average of 4.1 per game.
The Stags (15-11 overall, 9-7 MAAC) bring a three-game winning streak into tonight's contest, the third time that they have won that many games in a row this year. Fairfield has yet to win four straight games during the 2015-16 season. The last time that the Stags won four straight games came in the 2012-13 season when they won six straight and five straight games in different parts of the season.
The Stags extended their current winning streak with the Marist victoryt, overcoming a 13-point deficit with 11 minutes remaining in the second half. Fairfield scored 38 points through the first 29 minutes of the game but finished the final 11 minutes with a 38-22 run to win the game. Jerry Johnson Jr. scored a career-best 25 points while Marcus Gilbert added 20 points and a team-best seven rebounds in the Fairfield win.
Gilbert raised his team-best scoring average to 17.7 points per game. Tyler Nelson ranks second on the team with 15.7 points per game, followed by Curtis Cobb's 10.5 scoring average. Jonathan Kasibabu remains the team's top rebounder with 5.4 caroms per contest.
