FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team's brief two-game road trip concludes on Thursday night when the Stags travel to Monmouth University. Fairfield and Monmouth will trip off at 7 pm with the game being shown on ESPN3.

The Stags endured another close loss at the hands of Quinnipiac, falling by an 80-78 count in Hamden. For Fairfield, the two-point setback brought the team's record to 3-7 in games decided by three points or less this season.Jesus Cruz picked up a team-best 20 points against the Bobcats, his second 20-point game of his career. The first was a 21-point effort against Quinnipiac last season. Aidas Kavaliauskas continues to find his form from a year ago when he developed into one of the best playmakers in the conference. The guard dished off six assists without a turnover and registered five steals in the decision.

Jonathan Kasibabu fell short of another double-digit rebounding game, collecting nine total to raise his team-leading average to 7.9 caroms per contest. Landon Taliaferro netted three three-point field goals against Quinnipiac, the 10th time in 17 games that he has connected for three or more three-point field goals this season. The junior continues to lead the team in scoring with a 13.2 scoring average, one point better than Neftali Alvarez's scoring mark of 12.2 markers every forty minutes.

The Hawks won their four of their last six games including a 63-60 overtime road win at Siena on January 14. Monmouth owns a 3-2 record in MAAC play which includes two home wins against Saint Peter's and Manhattan. In those three wins, the opposition averaged 51 points per game with Saint Peter's (44 points) and Manhattan (49) not reaching the 50-point mark. Deion Hammond paced the Monmouth offense with 16 points in the Siena game,with Diago Quinn and Ray Salnave adding 14 points each. For Hammond, the game marked the sixth time that he was the top scorer for Monmouth with only Ray Salnave accomplishing the task more often with seven games.

The Siena contest marked the Hawks' second overtime game in three outings, falling to Quinnipiac in an 83-80 double overtime decision. In that game, Monmouth trailed by 10 points with under a minute left in regulation before rallying to send the game to extra time. Salnave leads the Hawks' offense with a 12.4 scoring average while Hammond places second with 11.9 points per game. The rebounding is well distributed with Mustapha Traore leading the way with 5.4 per contest.

Fairfield won the first two meetings in this series, both of which were non-conference games. Each of those non-conference game represented the season opener for the Stags. In the 1995-96 edition, freshman Kyle Commodore came off the bench to score a game-high 22 points, netting seven of nine three-point attempts in addition to making one of two free throws. The two teams split the two 2013-14 games, the first time the programs met as Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foes. Maurice Barrow was the Stags' top scorer in that first meeting with 20 points while K.J. Rose and Marcus Gilbert were co-leaders in the second meeting that year, each posting 15 points.
 
Monmouth won the next seven meetings between the two teams including a three-game sweep during the 2015-16 campaign. The Hawks posted a 76-63 win in the MAAC tournament to complete the three-game run.  The Stags swept the season series last season with each game being decided by one possession. In the first game, Fairfield earned a 79-78 victory on the road behind Jesus Cruz's game-winning basket with two seconds remaining in West Long Branch. The freshman finished the game with 13 points. In the second meeting, Fairfield erased an 11-point deficit and came away with a 69-66 victory. Tyler Nelson led all Fairfield scorers with 23 points while Jonathan Kasibabu added 20 points and 10 rebounds to the Stags' cause.