FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will play a pair of games in upstate New York this weekend, making their annual trek to Canisius College and Niagara University. The Stags open the trip with a Friday night match up with the Golden Griffs, a 7 pm start that will be broadcasted on ESPN+. The weekend ends concludes with a Sunday afternoon contest against the Purple Eagles with the game slated for a 2 pm tip. The games will also be carried by WVOF 88.5 FM with Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis calling the action.

Fairfield come off a home loss against Monmouth last weekend, a 61-49 decision at Webster Bank Arena. Fairfield scored the first seven points of the game and held the lead for the first eight minutes before falling behind 15-12 with 11 minutes left in the first half. Monmouth never trailed the rest of the game, taking a 13-point halftime lead, building it to as many as 16 points in the second half before settling for the 12-point victory.

Taj Benning, who rejoined the starting lineup three games ago, tied his season high with 12 points which represented the team's top scoring total in the game. Jesus Cruz was next in the scoring column with nine points and added three of the team's six steals. The Stags still have four student-athletes averaging in double figures, led by Landon Taliaferro's 11.7 scoring average. Neftali Alvarez (11.3 ppg), Jonathan Kasibabu (10.6 ppg), and Jesus Cruz (10.2 ppg) round out the scoring leaders. Kasibabu, who grabbed seven rebounds against Monmouth, brings a conference-best 7.6 rebounding average into the game.

Jesus Cruz took over the Fairfield lead for scoring in MAAC games, coming into the contest with an 11.5 scoring average. Ironically, Cruz has been the team's top scorer in three of the team's 13 conference games, scoring 20 or more points in each of those three games - 24 vs. Iona, 21 vs. Canisius, and 20 at Quinnipiac. Jonathan Kasibabu, who has been the team's top scorer in a team-high four of 13 MAAC games this year, stands second with 11.3 points per game. 

The Golden Griffs picked up their conference-best eighth road win with a 64-60 victory at Saint Peter's. The decision completed a two-game road sweep which started with a buzzer-beating 81-80 win at Rider as Jonathan Sanks' three-point field goal with less than a second remaining provided the deciding points. In Jersey City, Canisius and Saint Peter's played to a 32-32 tie in the first half before the Griffs pulled away for the four-point win.

Takal Molson posted nearly a third of the team's points by netting 21 markers in 35 minutes of work. Malik Johnson and Scott Hitchon also reached double figures with 11 points. Molson is the team's top scorer with a 16.9 scoring average and represents the team's top three-point threat with 39 baskets from behind the arc. Johnson serves as the team's top play maker, dishing off 104 assists in 24 starts. He is one of three MAAC student-athletes with 100 or more assists this season.