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FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The middle game of a three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) road trip sends the Fairfield University Men's Basketball team to Rider University on Friday night. The Stags and the Broncs will meet in Lawrenceville, N.J. with the tip scheduled for 7 pm. 

The Stags were a three-pointer short of starting the MAAC season with two wins, but the buzzer-beating attempt fell off the rim and resulted in a 61-58 loss at Manhattan last Saturday. Fairfield and Manhattan played a see-saw game that put forth eight tied scores and nine lead changes. Neither team led by more than seven points, an advantage held by Manhattan with four minutes left in the second half. Fairfield's largest lead stood at six points early in the second half, but a 9-0 Manhattan run erased the deficit.

Fairfield received a standout performance from junior Jonathan Kasibabu who secured a season-high 13 rebounds in addition to his 14 points. Tyler Nelson led the team in scoring with 15 points, 10 of which came in the opening half. Nelson's scoring average is nearly double that of the next best number by any teammate. The senior scores 20.4 points per game while Ferron Flavors Jr. is next with an 11.2 scoring average. Besides those two student-athletes, no other Stag is posting more than nine points per game after 13 contests. Jesus Cruz picked up five more steals in the Manhattan game, giving him a team-best 23 for the season. 

The Broncs opened up their MAAC season in upstate New York and came away with a split, falling to Canisius (77-76) before beating Niagara (99-76). Rider improved to 8-6, tying Canisius for the most overall wins in the conference coming into this week's action. Rider opened the season with a 5-1 record before losing four straight games to come up even at 5-5. Since that streak, the Broncs have won three of four games, including a 71-70 victory at Penn State.

The team's 99 points against Niagara marked the fifth time in 14 games in which Rider reached the 90-point mark and raised its team scoring average to 82.8 points per game. Niagara is the only team posting more points per game than Rider, tossing in 83.9 points every forty minutes. The team's offense thrives because of the starting five which includes four double-digit scorers. Jordan Allen leads the way with a team-best 15.2 points per game, followed by Stevie Jordan (14.5 ppg), Frederick Scott (13.7 ppg), and Tyere Marshall (11.1 ppg). Dimencio Vaughn is the only reserve in double figures with a 13.4 scoring average. Scott ranks fourth in the MAAC with 7.4 rebounds per contest.

The January 5 meeting represents the first meeting between Fairfield and Rider this season. The Stags hold a slight 34-28 edge in the series which began during the 1951-52 season. Fairfield won 12 of the first 18 meetings, all of which were non-conference games which began with the 1951-52 season and ran through the 1980-81 campaign. Since Rider joined the MAAC, the Stags hold a slight 22-21 lead in the series with Rider.

Fairfield has won the last four games in the series, sweeping each of the last season series. Last season, the Stags recorded 76-67 and 69-67 decisions over Rider. Tyler Nelson set a personal-best with 38 points in the first game which was played at Rider, the MAAC opener for both teams. He followed up with a team-best 16 points while Amadou Sidibe added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the home win.