FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will return to action for the first time in nearly a week, taking on Army West Point on the road Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for a 1 pm start. The Stags will play for the first time since returning from their trip to Seattle last weekend as one of four participants in the Elgin Baylor Classic.
The Stags earned a hard-fought 86-85 victory over the University of Denver in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The game was part of the Elgin Baylor Classic, hosted by Seattle University. The team won two of its three games in the Classic, falling to Longwood University and the host over the Thanksgiving holiday. Fairfield enjoyed a double-digit lead in the first half before Denver cut that deficit in two by halftime, 46-38. Denver continued its furious comeback and eventually took the lead in the second half. The Stages used a 9-0 run in the closing minutes to build an 86-80 lead with a minute remaining and held on for the 86-85 decision.
Five Fairfield student-athletes reached double figures in the game with
Landon Taliaferro leading all scorers with 21 points.
Neftali Alvarez was the other starter to tally in double figures with 13 points. Taliaferro used his 21-point effort to raise his team-leading scoring average to 16.7 points per game, a mark that places him fifth among the MAAC leaders. Alvarez also is listed on the MAAC season scoring leaders, securing ninth with his 14.9 points per game. Matijia Milin picked up his first start of the season in the Denver game. He responded with five points, two rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes of play.
Jonathan Kasibabu came off the bench for the first time this season and responded with 10 points and five rebounds, netting all four of his field goal attempts against Denver.
The Black Knights picked up their third win of the season with a 67-56 decision over Binghamton. Army West Point owns a 3-5 overall record and an unblemished 3-0 mark at home. The team is winless on the road (0-3) and on a neutral court (0-2). On Wednesday night, Army West Point trailed by a point at halftime, 24-23, but came back with a 44-point second-half that included a 19-3 run that turned the momentum. Matt Wilson earned a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Black Knights, while teammates Tommy Funk and Jordan Fox both hit double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Funk collected eight assists which places him fourth all-time at the school with 383. Army West Point has three student-athletes averaging more than 10 points per game, namely Wilson (15.3 ppg), Funk (11.5 ppg), and Fox (10.8 ppg). Wilson is also the top rebounder with 8.0 per game.
This game will complete a four-game road trip that started last week. Fairfield will play its third home game of the season next week when it hosts Oakland University on December 6 at Alumni Hall. The date will represent the first of seven home games played at the Stags' on-campus facility this season.
