FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team returns home for the first time in a month to host Marist College in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game. It's the first conference home game for the Stags, who last played in Connecticut on December 8 against William & Mary. The Wednesday night match up with the Red Foxes will be played at Webster Bank Arena beginning at 7 pm.
Fairfield evened up their record in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play last Sunday with a 46-42 decision over Canisius. The win gave Fairfield a 3-1 record on its latest four-game road trip that included non-conference wins at Oakland and at Wagner. The 42 points is the lowest output by a Fairfield opponent this season, one game after the Stags yielded the most points in regulation when Niagara posted a 75-66 victory on Friday.
The Stags brought an 18-16 lead into the locker room and never trailed in the second half. Canisius did tie the score twice at 27 and 38 but Fairfield responded with a seven-point run to break the first deadlock and an 8-2 spurt to take the lead for good after the second tie.
Landon Taliaferro led all Fairfield scorers with 11 points, including two three-point field goals down the stretch that kept the Stags in lead.
Vincent Eze was the other double-figure scorer with 10 points and added seven rebounds to his totals.
Taj Benning posted a career-best nine rebounds to lead all Fairfield student-athletes. Taliaferro leads all Stag scorers this season with a 14.4 scoring average, slightly higher than
Jesus Cruz's 13.5 points per contest. Eze and Benning are the team's top rebounders in 2019-20, averaging 5.8 and 5.0 rebounds every forty minutes.
The Red Foxes come into tonight's game with a 1-11 overall record and an 0-3 MAAC mark after their 66-40 setback at Saint Peter's on Sunday. Four of the team's losses came by five points or less this year including a 63-58 decision against Quinnipiac on January 3 as well as two overtime setbacks. Redshirt junior guard Michael Cubbage has been a key to the Marist offense this season, reaching double figures a team-best seven times in 2019-20. He owns a 9.8 scoring average to date, followed closely by Matt Herasme's 8.5 points per contest.
Matt Herasme led all Marist scorers with 10 points in the Saint Peter's game, his fifth double-digit performance this season. He is the lone Red Fox to have reached double-figures in each of the last two games, starting with a 20-point effort in a home game against Quinnipiac. He places second among his teammates with an 8.6 scoring average, trailing only Michael Cubbage, who has a team-high 9.8 scoring average. Cubbage also represents the team's top play maker, averaging nearly two assists per game off a squad-best 23 assists in 12 starts. Cubbage and Herasme are the only two Marist student-athletes to have started all 12 games this season.
The Marist game is the first game in a three-date home stand that continues with two games at Alumni Hall. Fairfield will host Manhattan College on Friday, January 10 before welcoming Saint Peter's University on January 15. Both games are slated for a 7 pm tip.
