FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Fairfield University Men's Basketball makes its first to Emmitsburg, Md.on Thursday, Jan. 26 for the first-ever conference meeting with Mount St. Mary's. Opening tip from Knott Arena is slated for 7 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT: FAIRFIELD 62, SIENA 52
The cliché of a "tale of two halves" was on full display this past Sunday in Albany, as Fairfield posted its lowest-scoring half of the season in the opening stanza of its contest at MAAC frontrunner Siena, then followed up with its highest-scoring 20 minutes of the campaign to knock off the host Saints, 62-52, at MVP Arena. Supreme Cook led the scoring effort with 12 points.
 
The Stag scored just 15 points in the first half, opening the game shooting 1-for-22 from the floor, but also limited Siena to its lowest scoring half of the campaign to head into the break trailing by just five points at 20-15. Fairfield followed with a 47-point outburst after the intermission and maintained its defensive intensity on the Saints, who entered the game averaging over 70 points per contest, to come away with the double-digit road win.
 
Ten of Cook's team-best 12 points came in the second half, while Caleb Fields had nine of his 11 after the intermission. TJ Long was the third Stag in double figures with 10 points, including a dagger three-pointer to extend the lead to 56-50 with just over one minute to play. Jalen Leach added nine points for the Stags and Allan Jeanne-Rose scored six.
 
STREAK STATS
The Stags have won three consecutive MAAC regular season games for the first time since winning four straight to close out the 2017-18 season. Since then, of course, Fairfield has also defeated three consecutive MAAC opponents in the postseason en route to both the 2018 and 2021 MAAC Championship Games.
 
THE MOUNT ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY MOUNTAINEERS
Mount St. Mary's enters the week at 7-13 overall and 3-6 in the MAAC in its first campaign as a full-time member of the conference. Most recently, The Mount hosted and defeated Marist, 59-55, on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
 
An All-NEC Second Team selection last season, Jalen Benjamin leads the team and ranks ninth in the conference in scoring with 14.3 points per game. Dakota Leffew is the MAAC's most prolific three-point shooter with 2.3 made triples per game en route to 13.2 points per contest. Malik Jefferson is the Mount's top performer in the post at 9.7 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
 
The Mount ranks 10th in the MAAC in scoring offense at 62.1 points per game and third in scoring defense with 64.3 points per game allowed.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Fairfield has challenged The Mount only once before. The 80-68 win for Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3, 1949 was only the eighth game in the Stags' varsity history, occurring two months after incumbent Harry S Truman was re-elected President of the United States. Per the Mount St. Mary's student newspaper, the game was a home contest for the Mount despite being played in Danbury, Conn.
 
Following Sunday's win at Siena, the Mount is the only MAAC team that Head Coach Jay Young has never defeated as leader of the Stags.
 
EYES ON WIN #1
The Mount is the last of five teams on the 2022-23 schedule that the Stags had never defeated prior to this season. Fairfield is 3-1 in those games to date, picking up the program's first-ever victories over Towson, Evansville and Coast Guard while remaining winless in four tries against Wake Forest.
 
FUTILITY INTO FIREPOWER
The Jan. 22 win at Siena was the classic "tale of two halves" for the Fairfield offense. The Stags started the game 1-for-22 from the field, ending the half at 5-for-28 to record season lows in points (15), field goals (5) and field goal percentage (15.6%). The Fairfield defense, however, responded in kind as it ceded only 20 points to Siena -- a season-best for the Stags against a Division I opponent.
 
After halftime, Fairfield scored a season-high 47 points in the half, scorching the nets at a 65.4% clip (17-of-26) en route to the 62-52 victory. The Stags were 4-of-8 (50%) from three-point range and made all nine of their free throws -- including six from Caleb Fields in the final minute to ice the road win.
 
ON LOCKDOWN
Fairfield has ceded 60 points or fewer in three consecutive games and 10 times in total this season, posting a record of 8-2 in those outings.
 
The Stags currently lead the MAAC and rank 44th nationally with 63.9 points per game allowed. Against MAAC opponents, Fairfield has conceded a conference-low 61.0 points per game.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags return to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Sunday, Jan. 29 to open the home-and-home series with Rider. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Broncs are currently 9-9 overall and 6-3 in the MAAC entering a Friday night clash at Marist.

Tickets for Sunday's game are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.