NUTMEG VS. NUTMEG
Fairfield University Men's Basketball hits the road but stays within state lines for a Thursday, Dec. 18 visit to Central Connecticut State University. Opening tip-off at Detrick Gymnasium is slated for 7 p.m.
 
STAGS FLY PAST MONMOUTH
Brandon Benjamin had his fourth double-double of the season, this time comprised of 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Braden Sparks led all scorers with 17 points as Fairfield knocked off visiting Monmouth, 73-65, on Sunday at Mahoney Arena. Declan Wucherpfennig added 15 points and Tony Williams had 10 in the home victory.
 
Benjamin shot 8-for-11 from the field, including a pair of rim-rattling dunks during a run that put the Stags in front for good in the second half. Sparks, who entered the day as the MAAC's leading scorer, knocked down four three-pointers on his way to 17 points.
 
Wucherpfennig filled out his statline with 15 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Williams had seven of his 10 to help fuel the offense in the first half, and then canned a key three-early In the second half to slow a Monmouth run. Rounding out the starting five was Halon Rawlins with six points, five rebounds, and three assists.
 
Eric Mejia led the Fairfield bench. He scored all seven of his points in the second half to go along with a team-leading four assists.
 
COACH CASEY ON MONMOUTH
"That's a good win at home against a good team. We made some plays and executed at key points in the game, along with some aggressive defense and rebounding that got us the stops that we needed."
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Stags started four true freshmen in Sunday's win over Monmouth. Brandon Benjamin and Declan Wucherpfennig have started every game this season, while Halon Rawlins made his second start, and Tony Williams cracked the starting five for the first time. The foursome accounted for Fairfield's first 17 points of the game and 47 of the total of 73 posted in the winning effort.

Senior Braden Sparks joined the rookie quartet in the starting lineup. He has started every game this season.
 
ROWx3
Following his performance against Monmouth, Brandon Benjamin was selected as the MAAC Rookie of the Week for the third time. Benjamin recorded his conference-leading fourth double-double in the victory over the Hawks.
 
Benjamin scored 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting on Sunday and hauled in a game-leading 12 rebounds. He posted 10 points and seven boards in the second half as the Stags flipped a three-point deficit at the intermission to an eight-point win. Benjamin also blocked two shots with two assists and a steal in 31 minutes of work.
 
LET THE SPARKS FLY
Braden Sparks enters this week as the MAAC's leading scorer at 17.2 points per game. The senior tri-captain is also third in the MAAC in three-pointers per game (2.91) and three-point percentage (.416) and has helped bolster his scoring average with an .825 mark at the free throw line.
 
THE CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY BLUE DEVILS
CCSU scored an 84-67 win at Binghamton last Saturday to move to 6-4 on the season.  In addition to two wins over Division III opponents, the Blue Devils also own victories over Boston College, Rutgers, and Sacred Heart. CCSU has lost to Quinnipiac, UMass, Seton Hall, and Northeastern -- all in true road outings.
 
Darin Smith Jr. currently leads CCSU and the NEC at 20.0 points per game. Max Frazier adds 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest for the Blue Devils, and Jay Rodgers ranks sixth in the nation at 7.0 assists per game.
 
US AND THEM
Fairfield is 21-5 all-time against Central Connecticut. The Stags challenged "New Britain Teachers' College" once or twice annually from the 1949-50 season through the 1958-59 campaign before the series fell dormant with Fairfield joining the Division I ranks. The teams met again for five straight seasons when the Blue Devils moved up to Division I beginning in 1986-87 and have played a total of 11 times since then, including three meetings as a part of the Connecticut 6 Classic.
 
COACHING CONNECTIONS
The head coach of CCSU is Patrick Sellers, who was an assistant coach at Fairfield alongside Chris Casey for two seasons from 2019-21. Casey was also on the sidelines as an assistant at CCSU for Sellers' freshman season as a student-athlete in New Britain in the 1987-88 campaign.
 
MONDAY NIGHT (CHRISTMAS) LIGHTS
The Stags return home to Leo D. Mahoney Arena to close out the non-conference schedule on Monday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. against CCNY.