THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball hosts back-to-back home games for the first time in the MAAC portion of the slate, beginning with a Thursday, Jan. 16 visit from Niagara. Opening tip from Leo D. Mahoney Arena is set for 7 p.m. with the Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis calling the action for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+.

TICKETS
Tickets for Thursday night's game are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX. Current Fairfield students can claim their free ticket with the Super Stags App.

GAMEDAY PROMOTIONS
Young Alumni Night: Join your fellow recent graduates to cheer on the Stags. Ticket specials will be sent to alumni directly.

LAST TIME OUT
After more than 33 minutes of back-and-forth basketball last Sunday at Marist, the host Red Foxes ended the game on a 15-4 run to knock off Fairfield, 61-51. The Stags were led offensively by a game-best 16 points from Jamie Bergens.
 
Fairfield's offense was fueled by a 10-for-20 shooting performance from three-point range. The barrage from downtown included one from Louis Bleechmore, who reached 1,000 career points with the second-half trey. Bleechmore has scored 355 points in two seasons with Fairfield, previously netting 56 points in 2022-23 at Saint Joseph's and 592 in two years at Harcum College.
 
Bergens' 16 points was highlighted by three of the Stags' 10 three-pointers. Braden Sparks and Michael Rogan each connected on two with the trio of Bleechmore, Deon Perry and Kyle Jenkins knocking down one apiece. Sparks joined Bergens in double figures with 10 points and also garnered a team-high five rebounds.
 
Rogan added eight points for the Stags with Perry scoring five. Jenkins and Bleechmore finished with three points apiece and the frontcourt trio of Peyton Smith, Birima Seck and Isaac Munkadi each had two. Rogan, Smith and Bergens all corralled four rebounds.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE MARIST GAME
"We carried over a lot of the positives from our win on Friday, especially in terms of our intensity and toughness. But winning on the road requires a different level of execution and playmaking, and we didn't reach that level today."

THE NIAGARA UNIVERSITY PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara most recently split a home MAAC weekend, defeating Saint Peter's before falling to Rider to land at 7-9 overall and 2-3 in the MAAC. The Purple Eagles have also defeated Siena during league play while losing at the hands of Merrimack and The Mount.

Niagara is 0-7 in true road games and 2-7 in all games played outside the familiar confines of the Gallagher Center.

Niagara's offense is led by Olumide Adelodun with 11.1 points per game,w while Justice Smith adds 10.1 points per contest. The Purple Eagles are one of the MAAC's most prolific three-point shooting teams, ranking second in the conference with 8.7 made treys per game and third with a .353 three-point percetnage.

NET NOTES (through games played Jan. 14)
Niagara ranks 10th in the MAAC in the most recent NET at #300. All six of the Purple Eagles' Division I wins reside in Quad 4, with the best being last Friday's 70-60 win over #238 Saint Peter's. Niagara played a pair of Quad 1 games during the non-conference season, making road trips to #15 Michigan State and #72 St. Bonaventure.

Merrimack continues to boast the best NET in the MAAC at #186 bolstered by the league's best non-conference win - a 72-68 Quad 2 victory at #128 Troy.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Season sweeps for Niagara in each of the last two campaigns have moved the Purple Eagles' lead in the all-time series to 49-37 since 1966. Each team has put together a six-game streak in the series, with Niagara winning a half-dozen in a row from 1991-93, and the Stags winning six consecutively from 2010-12. Currently, the Purps have won the last three meetings.

ONE MORE HILL TO CLIMB
Niagara is the lone MAAC team that Chris Casey has not defeated as a head coach. During the 2023-24 season, Casey's Stags knocked off every team in the conference except for Niagara, as well as then-NEC member Sacred Heart. The remainder of Casey's Division I head coaching tenure came on the Purple Eagles' sidelines, where he (obviously) did not face Niagara.

Casey earned a win over Merrimack in the Division II ranks as head coach of the LIU Post Pioneers during the 2012-13 season. This year's meeting in North Andover was his first matchup with the Warriors at the Division I level.

PROTECTING HOME COURT
After the Stags' home win over Iona this past Friday, Niagara (2-0) and Merrimack (0-0) are the only current MAAC teams that have never lost at Leo D. Mahoney Arena.

STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Fairfield will play eight of its last 15 regular season games at Mahoney Arena, and 10 of the remaining 15 in the state of Connecticut. Visits to Rider (approx. 115 miles) and Siena (approx. 140 miles) are the only remaining regular season games that will be played more than 100 miles away from campus.

GRAND COMPANY
Louis Bleechmore's three-pointer on Sunday at Marist ran his career total of an even 1,000 points. The milestone also marked the third consecutive game in which a Stag reached 1,000 career points.

Deon Perry's season-best 22 points in last Friday's win over Iona brought him to an even 1,000 in his collegiate career. In Fairfield's prior contest on Jan. 3 at Merrimack, Prophet Johnson eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone for his college career.

Kyle Jenkins is already a 1,000 point scorer in his career, netting 1,042 points in four seasons at Lafayette. He has boosted his total to 1,069 points with his efforts this season.

UP NEXT
The Stags host the other half of the MAAC's Western New York contingent when Canisius comes to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Saturday, Jan. 18 for a 2 p.m. contest. The Griffs, who visit Iona on Thursday night, are 1-15 overall and 1-4 in the MAAC.