Media Notice: Fairfield's PDF game notes have been updated on Monday, 12/12 to reflect Yale's Saturday game at Kentucky as well as weekend action around the MAAC
 
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball looks to extend a two-game winning streak at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Monday, Dec. 12 against in-state foe Yale. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. All of the action will be broadcast live by the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+ with Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis on the call.
 
LAST TIME OUT: FAIRFIELD 61, SACRED HEART 59
Caleb Fields hit the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds to play to cap a 7-0 run over the final 3:13 and lift Fairfield to a 61-59 win over visiting Sacred Heart on Wednesday at the Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Fields also netted the game-tying bucket as a part of his game-high 18 points.
 
In addition to the offense scoring the game's final seven points, the Fairfield defense made five consecutive stops to facilitate the rally.
 
Supreme Cook capped his second straight double-double, scoring 15 points and pulling down a game-high and personal season-best 13 rebounds. The Stags held a 47-34 advantage on the glass, fueled by 16 offensive boards.
 
Chris Maidoh added nine points and five rebounds for Fairfield, while Jake Wojcik rounded out his box score with eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
 
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
Caleb Fields' game-winner with 0.9 seconds left was the latest game-winning basket for the Stags when trailing or tied since Allan Jeanne-Rose sank the game-winning layup with 0.2 seconds to play in a 55-53 win over Monmouth on Feb. 4, 2020 at Webster Bank Arena.
 
Also of note is Taj Benning's game-tying layup at the horn in last season's eventual overtime win over Canisius.
 
THE YALE UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS
Yale currently holds an 8-2 record entering a Saturday clash with Kentucky at Rupp Arena before making the trip to Fairfield. The Bulldogs won the Rainbow Classic with wins over Eastern Washington, Mississippi Valley State and host Hawai'i and have also defeated Vermont, Howard and Stony Brook in addition to pair of Division III wins. Yale's losses are a 65-62 setback at Colorado and a 71-61 defeat at Butler.
 
Matt Knowling leads Yale with 16.2 points per game, shooting .646 from the field, and has hauled in a team-high 4.7 rebounds per contest. Sharpshooter John Poulakidas is averaging 10.8 points per contest sparked by a .453 shooting percentage from three-point range.
 
Yale is coming off of an Ivy League Championship campaign, finishing at 19-12 with a loss to Purdue in the NCAA Championship First Round. The Bulldogs have won back-to-back Ancient Eight tournament crowns, thought those tournaments were held in 2019 and 2022, with the event canceled in 2020 and the entire season canceled in 2021.
 
LAST MEETING: YALE 70, FAIRFIELD 57
Fairfield and Yale last met in the final edition of the Connecticut 6 Classic on Nov. 13, 2015 at CCSU's Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain. Marcus Gilbert and Curtis Cobb each scored eight points for the Stags.
 
Yale was led by 23 points for Makai Mason, who capped that season as the hero of the Bulldogs' upset of Baylor in the NCAA Tournament.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Stags are 13-10 all-time against Yale in a series that dates back to 1977. Monday's game will be only the third time in the last 32 seasons that the teams will meet on the Fairfield campus.
 
The series includes one postseason clash - a 68-56 win for the Stags at Webster Bank Arena in the 2012 CIT First Round.
 
Nine of the all-time meetings in the series have been decided by one possession and/or in overtime, with Fairfield holding a 5-4 edge in those contests.
 
THE STAGS VS. THE STATE
Including Wednesday's win over Sacred Heart, Fairfield is 114-73 all-time against all Connecticut opponents and 58-60 against the current Division I teams in the Nutmeg State.
 
Fairfield is in the midst of a stretch against three straight in-state opponents in Sacred Heart, Yale and a first-ever meeting with the Coast Guard Academy. The Stags have not played three Connecticut teams in the non-conference slate since 2011-12, when Fairfield opened with a win over then-NEC Quinnipiac, visited defending National Champion UConn, and then defeated Yale in the opening round of the CIT. Excluding the postseason, Fairfield has not played three in-state foes in the non-conference season since 1997-98 when they defeated Hartford and Yale in back-to-back outings, then meeting #10 UConn.
 
The Stags are challenging three consecutive Connecticut opponents for the first time since January of 1956 when they met New Haven Teachers' College (SCSU), Bridgeport and the Teachers' College of Connecticut (CCSU) in a six-day span.
 
OUR TOWN
Wednesday night's win over Sacred Heart moved the Stags to 9-0 all-time against their crosstown foe. The teams had never met within the town of Fairfield prior to last season's meeting at the Pitt Center, with the seven previous encounters all held at Webster Bank Arena or a neutral location as a part of the Connecticut 6.
 
FIELDS, BETTER THAN "FAIR"
Caleb Fields currently ranks eighth in the MAAC with 15.1 points per game and leads the conference at 37.4 minutes per contest. He has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games and has been the Stags' leading scorer in seven contests, including each of the last four.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags reach the halfway point of their eight-game homestand and challenge their third straight Connecticut foe with a Sunday, Dec. 18 visit from Coast Guard. The first-ever meeting between the Stags and Bears tips off from Mahoney Arena at 2 p.m.