FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball continues Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play this weekend, beginning with a road test against Siena College on Friday night. The Stags and the Saints are geared up for a 7 pm tip at the Times Union Center. 

The Stags evened up their MAAC record at 5-5 with a 55-53 win over Monmouth, the team's fourth straight home victory. Freshman Allan Jeanne-Rose secured a long rebound at the Monmouth free throw line with 4.4 seconds left in the second half and raced to the basket for the game-winning points with 0.2 seconds remaining. Fairfield led by as many as 11 points in the first half and carried a seven-point edge into the locker room at halftime, 23-16. Monmouth battled back to take the lead midway through the second half at 38-37 before four straight points from Jesus Cruz to regain the lead and Fairfield did not trail in the game again.

Landon Taliaferro and Cruz paced the offense with 14 points each while Wassef Methnani added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Maidoh also tied his career-best with 10 rebounds, the same number he posted at Quinnipiac. Taliaferro added four three-point field goals to his season total, coming into tonight with 52 long-range baskets. He is one of three MAAC student-athletes with 50 three pointers this season, joining  Monmouth's Deion Hammond (61) and Quinnipiac's Rich Kelly (54). Taliaferro represents the team's top scorer with his 13.6 scoring average, slightly higher than Cruz's 11.9 points per game.

Fairfield remains the top team in the MAAC for overall scoring defense by allowing 63.2 points per game, holding a slight lead over Manhattan (64.3 ppg). The Stags are second in the conference for scoring defense in MAAC games, allowing 61.9 points per game. Saint Peter's leads the MAAC in that category by surrendering 61.6 points per conference date. Landon Taliaferro places third in the conference for three-point field goals per game, netting 2.6 per contest. Chris Maidoh ranks sixth in the MAAC for blocks per game, rejecting 1.0 every 40 minutes (21 blocks in 21 games). Taliaferro also places ninth among MAAC scoring leaders (13.6 per game) while Jesus Cruz is 17th at 11.9 per contest.

Siena was edged by Saint Peter's last Sunday as the Peacocks used a 16-3 run in the second half to erase a five-point Siena lead at 52-47 with 13:50 remaining. The Peacocks scored eight straight points to take the lead for good at the beginning of the run. Manny Camper just missed a double-double for the Saints, finishing the afternoon with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Donald Carey added 15 points for the visitors. Jalen Pickett netted nine points but dished off an impressive 11 assists against one turnover during the afternoon game.

The Saints are the MAAC's top offensive team, averaging 73.8 points per game. Four student-athletes are averaging better than 10 points per game, starting with leading scorer Pickett's 15.4 scoring average. Elijah Burns is next line with 14.7 points every forty minutes, followed by Camper's 13.7 points per contest and Donald Carey's 11.8 points per game. Camper joins Kevin Marfo as the only MAAC players averaging a double-double. Camper completes his seasonal double-double with 10.6 rebounds per game while Marfo stands at 10.2 points and 13.6  rebounds per game.

The Stags will finish up their MAAC weekend by hosting Iona College on Sunday, February 9 at Webster Bank Arena. The game is scheduled for a 2 pm tip.