THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball takes a two-game foray into the MAAC schedule this weekend with the longest road trip of the conference slate up to Western New York. First up, the Stags head to Buffalo for a Friday, Dec. 3 meeting with Canisius.
 
LAST TIME OUT
A 15-2 run staked Fairfield to a 10-point lead early in the second half of a Nov. 28 clash with Loyola Maryland at Webster Bank Arena. But it was the Greyhounds' own 15-2 spurt down the stretch that proved decisive as the visitors claimed a 75-70 decision. TJ Long and Supreme Cook both scored new career highs for Fairfield with 21 and 19 points, respectively.
 
Long's 21 points include a 5-for-8 showing from distance. His effort fueled the Stags to 32 bench points as Jesus Cruz netted seven in a reserve role and Chris Maidoh shot 2-for-2 down low to total four points off the bench.
 
Cook's career-best 19 points included an 8-for-8 shooting performance from the floor as well as 3-of-4 conversions at the stripe. The sophomore also hauled in nine rebounds to pace the Stags to a 31-23 advantage on the glass.
 
TJ LONG: TWO-TIME MAAC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After averaging 16.0 points per game against Stony Brook and Loyola Maryland, TJ Long was tabbed as the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the second time in 2021-22. Long shot 11-for-19 (.579) from the field, highlighted by an 8-for-13 (.615) performance from downtown. He also hauled in 3.5 rebounds per game while recording two blocks and one steal.
 
On the season, Long ranks 16th in the MAAC and leads all conference freshmen with a team-best 12.5 points per game. He has converted better than 52 percent of his shots from the floor and ranks third in the MAAC with a 44.4 percent success rate from three-point range.
 
The CANISIUS COLLEGE GOLDEN GRIFFINS at a Glance
Canisius tips off the MAAC slate with a record of 2-5, most recently on the short end of an 89-75 decision on Monday against visiting Cornell. The Griffs have also lost to Miami, East Carolina, St. Bonaventure and Cleveland State while picking up wins over Fredonia and Coppin State.
 
Malek Green leads Canisius and ranks third in the MAAC with 16.6 points per game. Green also paces the Griffs with 6.6 rebounds per contest. He was tabbed for the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team prior to the start of the campaign, with the Griffs slotted 11th by th league's head coaches.
 
THE GRIFFS IN 2020-21
Canisius finished the 2020-21 season at 7-6, earning the sixth seed and falling to 11th-seeded Rider in the opening round of the MAAC Championship. In the regular season, the Griffs swept Saint Peter's and Quinnipiac, split with Marist, Fairfield and Siena, and lost both ends of the series with Monmouth.
 
LAST MEETING: FAIRFIELD 66, CANISIUS 53 (2/20/2021)
After Canisius opened last season's two-game series with a victory, the Stags responded on the following evening with a 66-53 decision in the final Fairfield Men's Basketball game to be played on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall.
 
Jesus Cruz led all players with 17 points to pace three Stags in double figures. Jake Wojcik added 16 points and six rebounds, while Supreme Cook neared a double-double with 10 points and eight boards.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Last season's split moved the all-time series to 50-40 in favor of the Stags dating back to 1962. Fairfield has won three of the last four meetings coming off of a stretch in which the Griffs won four of five encounters. The Stags most successful run was a streak of nine straight over Canisius from 2009-12. The Griffs also put together a stretch of nine consecutive wins in the sries -- a run that was halted by the Stags' victory in the 1997 MAAC Championship Game.
 
THE STAGS ON THE BUFFALO TRIP
Fairfield has made proper version of the conference's infamous "Buffalo trip" -- playing Canisius and Niagara on the same visit to Western New York -- on 22 occasions since the pair joined the conference in 1989, including annually from 2007-08 to 2019-20.
 
On those 22 trips, the Stags have gone 2-0 on five occasions (2003-04, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2015-16 and 2016-17) and 0-2 on nine occasions.
 
Fairfield has split the two-game trip eight times. The Stags have beaten Canisius and lost to Niagara five times, and defeated the Purple Eagles but fell to the Griffs in three seasons.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags wrap up the Western New Yrok swing on Sunday, Dec. 5 with a 1 p.m. tip at Niagara. The Purple Eagles will begin their MAAC slate against Monmouth on Friday before hosting the Stags.
 
Fairfield then heads back into the non-conference slate at Webster Bank Arena with a Wednesday, Dec. 8 visit from Holy Cross.