FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- With the regular season tucked away and a four-game winning streak in hand, the sixth-seeded Fairfield University men's basketball team will open the 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament on Thursday night against 11th-seeded Marist College on Thursday night. The game will be the third contest in a men's basketball tripleheader that night with the Stags and the Red Foxes scheduled for a 9 pm tip. The Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. will serve as host for the 2018 MAAC Tournament.

The Stags finished the regular season with a season-best four-game winning streak which they extended with their 69-66 win over Monmouth University last Saturday. Fairfield won those games by no margin greater than four points which included a one-point victory against Siena on February 21. Fairfield has won seven of its last nine dates, two of which were road victories (Siena, Monmouth). Last Saturday, the Stags trailed Monmouth by 11 points with six minutes remaining in regulation before closing out the game with a 21-7 run that ended with Fairfield's three-point win.

Tyler Nelson scored nine points during that run, the last two coming with five seconds remaining which turned a one-point lead into a three-point edge. Jonathan Kasibabu also performed well over those six minutes, netting seven points. Nelson finished the game with 23 points while Kasibabu posted 20 points and completed his double-double with 10 rebounds in 27 minutes. Jerome Segura, who earned his first start since Manhattan on January 11, picked up 10 points in his 24 minutes of work. Nelson holds the top spot among Fairfield scoring leaders with 21.8 points per game, followed by Ferron Flavors Jr.'s 12.0 scoring average. Kasibabu, who is shooting 67 percent from the floor overall, raised his output to 9.2 points per contest.

 The Red Foxes spent the final weekend of the regular season in upstate New York and returned home with setbacks against Niagara and Canisius. The Purple Eagles hit the century mark with its 100-76 decision over Marist, while Canisius ended the regular season with a 96-74 decision on Sunday. Against Niagara, five Red Foxes reached double figures as Ryan Funk and Lasse Gummerus each netted a team-best 13 points in the game. Connor McClenaghan was the only reserve to make it to double digits, registering 11 points in 10 minutes. Marist trailed by just three points, 46-43, at halftime before Niagara outscored the visitors by a 54-33 count over the final 20 minutes. In the Canisius game, Funk posted a team-high 17 points while Brian Parker (16 points) and Aleksander Dozic (15 points) also performed admirably in the game.

Another 50-plus point second half was the difference as Canisius turned its eight-point half time lead into the 24-point win. Parker paces the Marist offense with 17.0 points per game while Funk (11.8 ppg) and David Knudsen (10.8 ppg) have also enjoyed success in 2017-18. Funk represents the team's best three-point threat, using his .406 three point percentage to collect 76 long-range shots in 26 games. Tobias Sjoberg represents the team's top rebounder with 5.9 caroms per contest.