FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Basketball returns to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Friday, Jan. 20 to host Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foe Canisius. Opening tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis calling the action live for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT: FAIRFIELD 56, SAINT PETER'S 52
Fairfield eded just 21 second-half points, turning seven-point deficit at the intermission into a 56-52 victory on Sunday at Saint Peter's. Jake Wojcik scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the second half, including Fairfield's final six tallies to seal the MAAC road triumph.
 
The victory was also the first true road win for the Stags this season; Fairfield picked up four victories during its recent seven-game homestand at Mahoney Arena as well as a pair of neutral court wins in Savannah, Ga. on Thanksgiving Weekend.
 
Along with Wojcik's 17 points, Supreme Cook posted 12 points and eight rebounds and Allan Jeanne-Rose filled out every column of the statsheet with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and four of the Stags' season-high nine blocked shots. TJ Long added nine points, Chris Maidoh scored six and Jalen Leach rounded out the scoring with two.
 
Cook's eight rebounds helped buoy the Stags on the boards as Saint Peter's hauled in 29 offensive boards and gained an overall 42-29 advantage on the glass. The Peacocks managed just 10 second chance points from their 29 offensive rips.
 
JUST STOPPING HOME
With their seven-game homestand to open Mahoney Arena in the rearview mirror, the Stags are not scheduled to play back-to-back home games for the remainder of the season.
 
THE CANISIUS COLLEGE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Canisius handed Siena its first MAAC loss of the season on Sunday to move to 5-12 overall and 3-5 in MAAC play. The Griffs also own league wins over Manhattan and Saint Peter's while falling to Siena, Iona, Rider, the Mount and Marist.
 
Jordan Henderson leads the Griffs with 13.5 points per game, though he has missed Canisius's last four outings. Tahj Staveskie and Jamir Moultrie also average double figures in the scoring column with 12.1 and 10.7 points per contest, respectively. Leading rebounder Xzavier Long, who has been unavailable for the last two games, is hauling in 6.0 boards per contest. Jacco Fritz is right behind him with 5.9 rips per contest.
 
As a team, Canisius ranks fifth in the MAAC in scoring with 69.5 points per game and 11th defensively, ceding 73.3 points per outing.
 
LAST MEETING
Taj Benning, Jesus Cruz and Caleb Green all scored in double figures, combining for 44 points in 72-50 win over Canisius on March 8 in the MAAC Championship First Round.
 
Cruz set up shop in the paint and offered his baby hook and reverse layup as the tools that help bring down the Golden Griffs to the tune of 19 points. Benning was effective both from the outside, hitting a pair of three-pointers, from the inside with a pair of field goals inside the paint, and from the free throw line by netting all four attempts en route to 15 tallies. Green reached double figures with 10 points, six of which came in the second half.
 
All eight Fairfield student-athletes that saw action put points in the box score including 20 points from the reserves, namely Zach Crisler (eight points), Chris Maidoh (six points), and TJ Long (six points). Allan Jeanne-Rose pitched in with six points as he gained a starting nod this evening while Supreme Cook rounded out the statistics sheet with a pair from the free throw line to go along with his team-best nine boards.
 
The postseason victory completed a three-game sweep for the Stags in the series with Canisius.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Farirfield's three wins over the Griffs last season moved the all-time series to 53-40 in favor of the Stags dating back to 1962. Fairfield has won six of the last seven 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 series -- a run that was halted by Fairfield's victory in the 1997 MAAC Championship Game.
 
BEATING THE ELITE
The Stags completed the season sweep of Saint Peter's for the first time since 2012-13. The two wins over the Peacocks also mark the first time that Fairfield has swept the home-and-home from the reigning MAAC Champion for the time since taking two from defending champ Saint Peter's in 2011-12.
 
Additionally, the Dec. 3 win over Saint Peter's was the first time that the Stags have ever defeated an Elite Eight team from the prior season. Fairfield had not challenged a reigning Elite Eight team since meeting defending National Champion Louisville, led by current Iona head coach Rick Pitino, in the 2013-14 campaign.
 
With the Cardinals' tournament run from that season having since been vacated by the NCAA committee on infractions, Fairfield last "officially" played an Elite Eight team from the season prior in 2011-12 when they played against defending National Champion UConn.
 
AIN'T LIFE GRAND
Jake Wojcik scored a season-best 16 points on Friday to run his career total to 1,002 points. He went on improve his season high on Sunday with 17 points in the win at Saint Peter's, boosting his career total to 1,009. Wojcik scored 346 points in two seasons at Richmond from 2018-20 and has netted 673 points to date in three campaigns with the Stags. In doing so, he joins a unique list of student-athletes who tallied their 1,000th career point in a Fairfield uniform but did not score all 1,000 of those tallies as a Stag.
 
Kim Fisher (1,338 points - 593 at Essex CC, 745 at Fairfield)
Danny Odums (1,305 points - 628 at Austin Peay, 677 at Fairfield)
Caleb Green (1,085 points - 633 at Holy Cross, 452 at Fairfield)
Jake Wojcik (1,019 points - 346 at Richmond, 673 at Fairfield)
Richie O'Connor (1,001 points - 550 at Duke, 451 at Fairfield)
 
In addition, Rakim Sanders was already a 1,000-point scorer when he came to Fairfield, having netted 1,048 points in three seasons at Boston College and then adding 615 points to his total in the 2011-12 season at Fairfield.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags make the trip to MVP Arena in Albany to complete the home-and-home series with Siena on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.