THE OPENING TIP
Fairfield University Men's Basketball makes another short trip, this time taking the quick jaunt to New Rochelle to challenge Iona on Sunday, Feb. 2. Opening tip-off from Hynes Athletic Center is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT
Deon Perry scored 23 points, including an electric first half showing, to lead Fairfield on Friday night at Quinnipiac. But after seven ties and five lead changes, the host Bobcats made the game's final run to pull away with an 81-69 decision. Jamie Bergens added 15 point and five assists for the Stags.

Perry netted 18 of his 23 points in the first half, shooting 5-for-8 from three-point range in the stanza. He knocked down six triples in total to round out his highest scoring output of the season. Kyle Jenkins stuffed the statsheet with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.
 
Quinnipiac was led by double-doubles from the All-MAAC duo of Amarri Monroe (27 pts., 10 rebs.) and Paul Otieno (15 pts., 13 rebs.).
 
Bergens notched the first five points for the Stags, staking Fairfield to a quick 5-2 lead. But the Bobcats responded with their first run of the evening with a 10-0 stretch to put the hosts in front, 12-5. The Stags responded with an 8-0 run capped by a Perry triple to tie the game at 16. That trey got Perry going as the Fairfield guard scored 15 of Fairfield's last 21 in the frame as the Stags headed to the intermission facing a two-point deficit, down 36-34.
 
The clubs traded scores for much of the second half, culmintating with a Jenkins triple cutting the Fairfield deficit to 61-59 with 7:11 remaining. But the last run of the evening came from Quinnipiac as the hosts reeled off a 16-3 stretch over the ensuing six minutes and put away the eventual 81-69 final.
 
COACH CASEY ON THE QUINNIPIAC GAME
"We fought incredibly hard tonight, and this team will never make me question that. But we left too many points at the rim and the free throw line. We need to clean up our execution and make more of the types of plays that decide these hard-fought conference games."

THE IONA UNIVERSITY GAELS
Iona dropped a 76-55 contest at MAAC rival Manhattan on Friday to fall to 8-13 overall and an even 5-5 in conference play. The Gaels are 4-5 at home this season with a 3-2 tally at Hynes against league foes.

The Gaels are among the top offensive rebounding teams in the nation, ranking third in the country with 15.38 offensive boards per game. Clarence Rupert and Yaphet Moundi are both corralling more than two rips from the offensive glass per game. Iona's penchant for second chance points has helped to stem the tide from their league-low .401 field goal percentage.

Iona's fast pace on both ends of the floor has seen them commit the most turnovers in the MAAC with 16.86 per contest while forcing the most in the conference and fifth-most  in the nation, also at 16.86.

ALL-TIME SERIES
After 125 meetings, Iona leads the all-time series by a count of 77-48. The win at Mahoney Arena on Jan. 10 as well as the Stags' victory in the MAAC Championship Quarterfinals marked Fairfield's first back-to-back wins over the Gaels since 2017.

The Stags have not swept the season series since 2006-07, which also marks their last win over Iona in New Rochelle.

SEE 'U' AT MAHONEY ARENA
Fairfield Men's Basketball and Leo D. Mahoney Arena have been selected to host a "MAAC Wildcard" game live on ESPNU on Thursday, Feb. 6. The nationally-televised game against visiting Marist is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
Fairfield will be making its second national television appearance of the season. The Nov. 9 contest at Georgetown aired nationally on FS2, and the Stags also made back-to-back regional TV appearances on SNY in games at Monmouth and Columbia in late December.
 
The Stags participated in three MAAC Wildcard games in 2023-24 as a part of six total appearances on the ESPN family of linear networks during that campaign.

Next Thursday's game will be the second time that Mahoney Arena has played host to an ESPNU telecast. The Stags welcomed Canisius last March, earning a 74-62 Senior Night win before a national television audience.

STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Fairfield will play five of its last 10 regular season games at Mahoney Arena, and six of the remaining 10 within 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.

UP NEXT
Action returns to Leo D. Mahoney Arena on Thursday, Feb. 6, when the Stags host Marist at 7 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.