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FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will play its first home game of the 2018 calendar year when it hosts Manhattan College at Webster Bank Arena on Thursday night. The game is scheduled for a 7 pm tip. The meeting will also close out the season series between the Stags and the Jaspers with the first meeting taking place on December 30 in Riverdale. 

The Stags return home after traveling for the last three games including the Manhattan date. The Stags also played Rider and Iona during their road trip but came up empty in all three contests. Senior Tyler Nelson led the team in scoring in all three games, highlighted by his 21-point effort at Rider. He averaged 17.3 points per game during the road trip which allowed him to keep his scoring average above 20 points per game (20.1), one of three student-athletes in the MAAC to average 20 or more points for the season.

Freshman Wassef Methnani also enjoyed a solid week by averaging 7.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game over the two games last week. The forward established a career-high with five assists against Rider and tied his personal-best with three blocks. Ferron Flavors Jr. surpassed 40 three pointers for the season, coming into this contest with 41 shots from behind the arc. His 2.7 three pointers made per game ranks third in the conference and also represents the team's best total.

The Jaspers started the MAAC campaign with a pair of wins, defeating Fairfield and Marist, before dropping their last two outings against Monmouth and Rider. Manhattan came from behind to defeat Marist and did it by scoring a season-high 101 points in the overtime game. Zane Waterman posted a double-double against the Red Foxes with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Rich Williams, the team's top scorer for the season with a 14.1 scoring average, netted 20 points in the Marist win by making all 11 of his free throw attempts.

The Jaspers list two student-athletes with scoring averages above 10 points, led by Williams and followed by Waterman's 10.8 points per contest. Pauly Paulicap, who posted a double-double against the Stags in the first meeting, represents the team's top rebounder with 5.2 caroms per contest. The sophomore is also the team's leader with a .605 field goal percentage which ranks second in the MAAC to  Fairfield's Jonathan Kasibabu (.608). Paulicap is also the conference's top shot blocker with 2.3 rejections per game, the only student-athlete in the MAAC with more than two blocks per outing. Manhattan has played 11 of its 16 games away from campus, owning a 2-4 record in true road games and 1-4 in neutral site contests.

Thursday's match up will be the 102nd between these two teams with the Jaspers holding a slight 53-48 edge in the series which began during the 1954-53 season. After a Manhattan win in the 1954-55 campaign, the series went on hiatus until the 1967-68 season which started Fairfield's four-game win streak within the series through the 1970-71 match up. Fairfield had won the three straight games in the series before falling in the first meeting of 2017-18, a 61-58 setback at Draddy Gymnasium on December 30. starting with the final meeting in the 2015-16 and including last year's season sweep by the Stags.

Manhattan Game Promotions
2-for-1 Tickets: All fans who purchased an adult ticket for Wednesday night's women's basketball game at Alumni Hall can redeem their 2-for-1 voucher at the Webster Bank Arena box office
 
Lil' Stags Bring-A-Friend Night: Lil' Stags Club members receive free youth admission for themselves AND a friend (youth ticket only). A Lil' Stags Club membership card must be presented to redeem. There will be a Lil' Stags Club pregame party in the University Club with free food and a visit from Lucas the Stag!
 
Halftime Dance Performance: The Harney Pender Keady Academy of Irish Dance will perform at halftime.