MONDAY MATINEE
Fairfield University Men's Basketball concludes its weekend road trip with a Monday matinee at Siena. Opening tip-off from MVP Arena is set for 2 p.m. with Kelly O'Donnell and Conner Fenlon calling the action on ESPN+.
LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield saw its three-game MAAC winning streak come to an end on Saturday with an 82-67 setback at Marist.
Braden Sparks set the scoring pace for the Stags with 16 points in the road outing.
Sparks supplemented his team-leading 16 points with two assists and a pair of steals.
Tony Williams joined him in double figures with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. In the starting frontcourt,
Declan Wucherpfennig had six points and
Brandon Benjamin scored five.
The bench scoring was led by
Deuce Turner's nine points and seven from
Eric Mejia. In total, the Stags racked up 28 bench points, with six points from
Isaac Munkadi, four for
Ryan Zan, and two from
Nasir Rodriguez.
On the boards,
Brandon Benjamin led the way with seven, and
Ryan Zan hauled in five. Marist held a 37-30 rebounding advantage, only the second time that Fairfield has been outrebounded in eight MAAC games this season.
Marist was led by a game-high 17 points for Elijah Lewis.
THE SIENA UNIVERSITY SAINTS
Siena picked up a 74-59 road win at Manhattan on Saturday to improve to 5-3 in the MAAC as a part of a 12-7 overall record. In addition to the Jaspers, the Saints own league wins over Niagara, Canisius, Rider, and Mount. Their league losses have come on the road at Iona and at home to Merrimack and Sacred Heart -- by a total of 13 points.
The Stags and Saints did not share any non-conference foes. Siena owns a NET ranking of 187, with its marquee win being a 59-55 victory at American (240). Fairfield enters the weekend with a NET of 245 bolstered by the win at CCSU 231).
Gavin Doty leads Siena with 15.9 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Justice Sports and Francis Folefac add 12.4 and 10.7 points per outing, respectively.
US AND THEM
Siena's four-point win in Albany last season snapped Fairfield's three-game winning streak in the all-time series. The Saints had won nine head-to-head meetings in a row before the Stags' recent success.
LET THE SPARKS FLY
Braden Sparks is the MAAC's leading scorer at 17.4 points per game. The senior also ranks second the MAAC and ranks 39th nationally in three-pointers per game (3.00), while slotting third in the conference and 35th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.413).
Sparks is also fourth in the MAAC in free throw percentage (.853) and seventh in field goal percentage (.415).
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN
Brandon Benjamin is one of the 15 players in the nation to average a double-double, posting 13.5 points and a MAAC-best 10.2 rebounds per outing. Among those 16, Benjamin joins UNC's Caleb Wilson and Washington's Hannes Steinbach as the only true freshmen on the ledger. He is 15th in the nation in rebounds per game and fifth nationally with 4.39 offensive boards per outing.
A four-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Benjamin also ranks second in the MAAC in blocks (1.56/game) and field goal percentage (.570). He is 11th overall and second among freshmen in scoring (13.5 ppg). He leads the conference with eight double-doubles.
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
Led by
Brandon Benjamin's conference-best 10.2 rebounds per game, as well as 7.7 per contest from
Declan Wucherpfennig, the Stags are currently leading the MAAC in total rebounding (39.79/game), offensive rebounding (14.26/game), and rebounding margin (+4.8).
The Stags' offensive rebounding average of 14.26 caroms per game is also good for 10th in the nation.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Stags have started four true freshmen (Benjamin, Rawlins, Williams, Wucherpfennig) in six games this season. To date, no other Division I team has reported a starting lineup featuring four true freshmen this season.
FOR STARTERS
Fairfield has used seven different starting lineups this season.
Braden Sparks and
Declan Wucherpfennig have both started all 19 games to date, while
Brandon Benjamin has been in the starting five for all 18 games in which he was available.
SECOND SEMESTER STAND
Fairfield welcomes students back to campus and action returns to Mahoney Arena when the Stags host Niagara on Thursday, Jan. 22 and Canisius on Saturday, Jan. 24.
