THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball makes its first appearance at Leo D. Mahoney Arena in 2025 on Friday, Jan. 10 with a classic MAAC matchup against Iona. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. with the Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis '79 calling the action on ESPN+.

TICKETS
Tickets for Friday 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

• Boy Scout Night: Discounted tickets for Boy Scout members may be purchased here.
• Halftime performance: XPOGO  

LAST TIME OUT
Prophet Johnson topped the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career, racking up 12 points in a 67-54 loss at MAAC newcomer Merrimack. Johnson shared the team high of 12 points with Braden Sparks.

Johnson also shared the game high of six rebounds with Isaac Munkadi as Fairfield battled to a 41-23 advantage on the glass. Michael Rogan added five boards and the duo of Peyton Smith and Birima Seck hauled in four apiece.
 
For Sparks, his 12 points included one three-pointer and a 5-for-5 day at the free throw line. Munkadi added a career-best nine points, Rogan scored six, Seck netted five and Smith had four. Rounding out Fairfield's 54 points were Louis Bleechmore, Jamie Bergens and Makuei Riek with two points apiece.
 
The Stags were plagued by a fast start for Merrimack as – after a Munkadi tip-in to start the scoring – the Warriors ran off 10 straight points as a part of a 21-4 run to build a quick 21-6 lead. The double-digit mark held for the remainder of the first half with the hosts taking a 38-24 margin into the intermission.
 
After the break, the margin grew as large as 25 points for Merrimack. Fairfield made a last push with Johnson scoring eight of his 12 points down the stretch as the Stags finished the contest on a 16-4 run. But the Warriors' lead ultimately proved insurmountable as the hosts grabbed a 67-54 final decision.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE MERRIMACK GAME
"We need to start games better, especially on the road. We struggled today in terms of both shot making and getting stops defensively. Back to work tomorrow to get ready for Iona next Friday on our home court."

THE IONA UNIVERSITY GAELS
Iona split its first MAAC weekend of 2025, falling at home to Marist, 70-65, and then winning a 74-73 thriller at Siena to settle at 5-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Gaels also hold a home MAAC win over defending champion Saint Peter's and dropped a road contest to league newcomer Sacred Heart during the December slate.

Dejour Reaves is the Gaels' leading scorer with 16.1 points per game, while Adam Nije Jr. joins him in double figures at 11.0 points per outing. Yaphet Moundi and James Patterson head the rebounding effort with 6.5 and 6.0 boards per game, respectively.

NET NOTES (through games played Jan. 7)
Iona's current NET of #291 ranks ninth among the 13 MAAC teams. All five of the Gaels' wins come from "Quad 4" with the best being the December win over Saint Peter's (#235). Iona's lone venture into Quad 1 was an 86-43 loss at #33 West Virginia, and the Gaels were clipped by #123 Princeton, 81-80, at Jadwin Gym in their only Quad 2 contest.

Merrimack continues to boast the best NET in the MAAC at #190 bolstered by the league's only Quad 2 non-conference win - a 72-68 victory at #113 Troy.

ALL-TIME SERIES
After 124 meetings, Iona leads the all-time series by a count of 77-47. Fairfield was swept by the Gaels in the regular season in 2023-24 but won the meeting that mattered most - a 68-63 victory in the MAAC Championship that also snapped a seven game losing streak for the Stags against Iona.

Fairfield is seeking its first regular season win over Iona since 2020 and its first back-to-back wins in the series since topping the Gaels in the second meeting of the 2015-16 season and then in the first matchup of the 2016-17 campaign.

STAYING (SOMEWHAT) CLOSE TO HOME
Due to the unbalanced MAAC schedule this year, Fairfield will not make "The Buffalo Trip" to Canisius and Niagara. With the Dec. 8 trek to The Mount and the Jan. 3 journey to Merrimack in the rearview mirror, Fairfield makes only six trips out of Connecticut for the rest of the regular season. 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 MILESTONES
With 12 points last Friday at Merrimack, Prophet Johnson has amassed 1,002 career points. His collegiate career began with 572 points in one season at Bellevue College, followed by 262 last year at Southern Utah and 168 points thus far in his first season as a Stag.

Two other Stags are poised to join Johnson in the 1,000 Point Club with Louis Bleechmore sitting at 991 career points and Deon Perry having amassed 978 points in his collegiate career to date.

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.

THREE AT A TIME
Louis Bleechmore's .475 three-point percentage (19-for-40) is the best in the MAAC among players with more than 25 attempts from beyond the arc.

Luke Davidson is the only MAAC player shooting 1.000 from three-point range as he connected on his only attempt from distance this season in the November win over John Jay.

SHARING THE WEALTH
Five Stags average between 20.5 and 28.3 minutes per game this season with a total of nine players averaging 10 or more minutes per contest. Michael Rogan is 54 seconds shy of being the 10th Stag on that list, logging 109:06 of game action in his 11 appearances this season.

UP NEXT
The Stags make the short turnaround and head to Marist for a Sunday, Jan. 12 outing in Poughkeepsie. The Red Foxes, who are off on Friday evening, are 11-2 on the season including a perfect 7-0 at McCann Arena and 4-0 in the MAAC.