FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball rings in 2023 at Leo D. Mahoney Arena with a New Year's Day visit from Siena. The Stags and Saints tip off the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference clash at 2 p.m. with Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis calling the action for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN3.
 
Tickets are available now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.
 
LAST TIME OUT: FAIRFIELD 73, MARIST 54
TJ Long set a new career high with 25 points to lead Fairfield to a 73-54 win over visiting Marist on Friday night at Mahoney Arena. Supreme Cook added 15 points and eight rebounds in the league victory.
 
Long's 25 points – besting his 23 scored in last season's home win over Rider – included five of the Stags' nine three-pointers. He scored 19 in the second half as the Stags grew their lead as large as 29 points over the Red Foxes.
 
For Cook, seven of his 15 points came at the free throw line as he shot 7-for-10 on charity tosses. Cook tops the MAAC and is among the nation's leaders in free throw attempts, going to the stripe 92 times in 13 games this season.
 
The Stags' defensive performance was bolstered by 34 points off 20 Marist turnovers. That number included 11 Fairfield steals, many of which factored into the Stags' 15 fast break points. Long and Caleb Fields had three swipes apiece. The MAAC's toughest defense has now allowed 60 or fewer points in seven of their last eight games, lowering their average to 63.9 points per game allowed.
 
FAST FIVE
TJ Long's five three-pointers against Marist came in a span of six attempts and just 5:58 of game time as the Stags pulled away from the Red Foxes. His fifth triple extended the margin to 60-36 with 8:51 to go. With five made two-point field goals, Long had a career-high 10 buckets from the field on his way to 25 points.
 
THE SIENA COLLEGE SAINTS
Siena began its trip to the Nutmeg State with a come-from-behind 83-76 win at Quinnipiac on Friday, rattling of its third straight win and improving to 8-5 overall and 2-0 in the MAAC. The Saints also hold a conference win over Canisius as well as signature non-conference triumphs over Florida State and Seton Hall. Siena and Fairfield did not play any common opponents in the non-league season nor within the MAAC thus far.
 
Siena has been led by Javian McCollum, who ranks second in the MAAC with 17.9 points per game and also slots fourth in the league with 4.1 assists per contest. Jackson Stormo adds 13.1 points per game and Andrew Platek is the third Saint in double figures with 10.8 per outing.
 
Jared Billups and Stormo head the effort on the glass with 6.2 and 6.0 rebounds per game, respectively.
 
LAST MEETING
After trailing visiting Siena for a span of more than 34 minutes in the Feb. 6, 2022 meeting at Webster Bank Arena, Fairfield pulled even with the Saints on a Taj Benning bucket with 4:11 to play. However, the Saints scored the game's next four points and the Stags never leveled the score again as the visitors made their free throws and time ticked away on a 62-56 final. Benning was the lone Stag to net double figures with 10 points.
 
Supreme Cook was just shy of double figures with nine points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Jake Wojcik collected six rebounds for the Stags to go along with his seven points and two assists.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Siena has won eight straight and 11 of the last 13 meetings to hold a 46-32 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1959. Fairfield's best run in the series came from 1995-98, winning seven of eight encounters. The Stags' last win came in Albany in 2018 as a part of a home-and-home series sweep for Fairfield. With the majority of home meetings being held in Bridgeport over the past 20 seasons, the Stags have not defeated the Saints on campus since 1998.
 
Aside from conference newcomer Mount St. Mary's, Siena is the only MAAC team that Head Coach Jay Young has never defeated as leader of the Stags.
 
STAGS ON THE RUN
The turning point in Friday's win came just before halftime when Marist took a 24-21 lead on a Patrick Gardner layup with 4:02 remaining. That bucket marked the last Red Fox points for a span 8:55, as the Stags scored the last seven of the half and continued to roll out of the intermission. The run grew to 16-0 with five different Stags contributing to the scoring as Fairfield claimed a 37-24 lead with 15:36 to go before Marist would score again.
 
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Fairfield leads the MAAC with 63.9 points per game allowed. The Stags have allowed 60 points or fewer in seven of their last eight games.
 
The Stags' defensive performance against Marist was bolstered by 34 points off 20 Marist turnovers. That number included 11 Fairfield steals, many of which factored into the Stags' 15 fast break points. TJ Long and Caleb Fields had three swipes apiece. Fairfield scored 20 of its 28 first-half points off of Marist miscues to help generate offense before the Stags' shooters heated up after halftime.
 
JACK JOINS THE FOLD
Jack Brown played 14 minutes on Friday, a career-high against a Division I opponent for the junior walk-on.
 
"I wanted energy. We got off to a slow start, and he's been on my mind a lot," said Head Coach Jay Young in his postgame press conference. "He deserves to play. This wasn't a message, this wasn't anything. This was about a kid who comes in, works hard and deserves to play."
 
UP NEXT
The Stags conclude their seven-game homestand on Friday, Dec. 6 against visiting MAAC foe Niagara.