THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball hosts the second half of this weekend's MAAC homestand on Saturday, Jan. 18 when Canisius comes to Leo D. Mahoney Arena. The Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis will call the action for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+ beginning at 2 p.m.

TICKETS
Tickets for Saturday'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

• Halftime performance: Simon Sez

LAST TIME OUT
Four players scored in double figures, led by a game-best 17 from Braden Sparks, to lead Fairfield to a 70-66 victory over Niagara on Thursday at Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Deon Perry added 15 points with four steals for the Stags.
 
Sparks' 17 points included three of the Stags' 10 three-pointers. The junior also hit a crucial step-back jumper with 80 seconds to play after the Purple Eagles had cut the lead to one possession. Perry scored 12 of his 15 to fuel Fairfield to the 35-22 cushion at the break that the Stags never relinquished.
 
Prophet Johnson returned to the lineup after a one-game hiatus and scored all of his 12 points in the second half, capped with a layup in the final minute and the two free throws that iced the game with only five seconds to go. Johnson was just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds. The fourth Stag in double figures was Michael Rogan, who contributed 10 points and three boards.
 
Fairfield won the rebounding battle, 42-28, led by 10 boards from Louis Bleechmore along with Johnson's nine rips. Bleechmore grabbed five of his caroms from the offensive glass and also chipped in seven points.
 
Rounding out the Fairfield scoring, Jamie Bergens had four points all from the free throw line – including two in the final minute – while Kyle Jenkins and Isaac Munkadi each scored two points and Birima Seck added one.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE NIAGARA GAME
"We set a tone with defense and rebounding tonight. That allowed us to play from in front and dictate the pace and flow of the game. When Niagara made a run, we stayed tough, made some big shots and made our free throws to earn the win."

THE CANISIUS UNIVERSITY GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Canisius began this week's MAAC slate with an 82-61 loss at Iona on Thursday evening to slip to 1-16 overall and 1-5 in conference play. The Griffs' lone win over the year was an 85-67 triumph at Rider on Jan. 10.

Paul McMillan IV is one of the MAAC's top offensive threats. He ranks second in the conference with 19.4 points per game, ranks fifth in field goal percentage at .441 and has made a league-high 75 free throws courtesy of an .824 success rate at the stripe.

Tana Kopa adds 12.5 points per game. He is currently the MAAC's top three-point shooter, leading the league in made treys (53), attempts (126) and three-point percentage (.421).

ALL-TIME SERIES
Winners of nine of the last 11 against the Griffs, the Stags have pushed their lead in the all-time series to 56-41 dating back to 1962. Fairfield's 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.

OUR HOUSE
Fairfield is 3-0 against the MAAC in games played at Leo D. Mahoney Arena this season. In three years at "The Leo", the Stags are 22-12 in home games overall and 15-8 in MAAC home games.

GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL
With Thursday's win over Niagara, Chris Casey has now earned at least one win as a head coach against every current MAAC team. Fairfield defeated every MAAC squad, as well as the then-NEC member Sacred Heart, during the 2023-24 season. The remainder of Casey's Division I head coaching tenure came on the Niagara sidelines.

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.

UP NEXT
The Stags head to Riverdale on Thursday, Jan. 23 for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Manhattan. Action returns to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Saturday, Jan. 25 when Fairfield completes its first home-and-home of the 2024-25 MAAC slate with a 7 p.m. visit from Merrimack.