FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team will play the second of two games in upstate New York on Sunday afternoon when the Stags take the court against Niagara University. The game is scheduled for 2 pm and will be broadcasted on the Niagara Sports Network as well as WVOF 88.5 FM.

The Stags played another close game that saw the team lead the entire first half before succumbing by a 72-68 count at Canisius. Fairfield owns a 4-9 record in games that have been decided by five points or less but are 2-3 in the last five games that meet that criterion. The Stags enjoyed a lead as big as nine points during the first half, a 26-17 advantage with 3:56 left. Canisius ended the half with a 15-9 run that brought the deficit to one possession by intermission, trailing 35-32. The Griffs opened the second half with the first seven points to take a three-point lead, an edge which would reach as many as eight points including a 51-43 lead. Fairfield answered with eight straight points to tie the game at 51 before Canisius responded with five straight points to take the lead for good.

Jesus Cruz led all Fairfield scorers with 18 points while Jonathan Kasibabu (16 points) and Neftali Alvarez (14) also reached double figures. Landon Taliaferro, who missed the Canisius game with flu-like symptoms, remains the team's top scorer with an 11.7 scoring average, followed closely by Alvarerz's 11.4 points per game. Kasibabu remains the team's top rebounder with 7.5 caroms per contest which places second in the MAAC.   

 Niagara also dropped a four-point decision as Manhattan came away with a 64-60 win at the Gallagher Center on Friday night. The Purple Eagles fell in the final minute of the game despite putting together a 22-4 run that started in the first half and ended early in the second half, a run that put the home team ahead, 38-30. The Jaspers responded by scoring nine of the next 10 points in the game that tied the score at 39-39 with 12 minutes remaining.

With the score tied at 57, Manhattan netted three straight points to regain the lead. Dominic Robb made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit but the Jaspers offset those charity tosses with a pair of their own. Robb had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds but his shot fell off the rim. Marvin Prochet leads the team in scoring with 17.0 points per game despite being held to six points by Manhattan. Robb, who led all scorers in the last game with 17 points, averages 10.2 points per game. The senior is five blocks away from tying the school record of 220. James Towns is also in double figures with 11.5 points per game.