SEMESTER STARTER
Fairfield University Men's Basketball plays its first game of the spring semester on Thursday, Jan. 22 when Niagara comes to Leo D. Mahoney Arena. Opening tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with the Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis '79 calling the action on ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Fairfield was on the short side of an offensive slugfest on Monday afternoon at Siena, falling to the host Saints by a score of 85-77. Brandon Benjamin scored 20 points to lead four Stags scoring in double figures.
 
Benjamin's 20 points came on 10-for-11 shooting from the field, with his only miss coming from beyond the arc. He also pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
 
After a scoreless first half due to foul trouble, Braden Sparks had all 18 of his tallies after the intermission. He knocked down three three-pointers, running his season total to a conference-leading 60 triples.
 
Declan Wucherpfennig added 12 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists, and Tony Williams had an even 10 points while dishing out a team-leading four helpers.
 
Halon Rawlins fell just shy of joining his four teammates in double figures, finishing with nine points. Off the bench, Deuce Turner scored five points and Eric Mejia netted three.
 
COACH CASEY ON SIENA
"We weren't at the level we needed to be at defensively. I think our offense was getting the shots that we wanted for the most part, but we needed the stops and the transition opportunities that come from those stops to be in a position to win the game."
 
A SHOOTING SPECTACLE
Both offenses were on display on Monday in Albany, with Fairfield shooting 29-for-58 (.500) from the field, while Siena was 31-for-46 (.674) on the day. The Stags' last loss when shooting at least .500 from the floor was also their last visit to MVP Arena – a 68-64 setback on March 6, 2025.
 
EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE
Brandon Benjamin's 10-for-11 shooting performance at Siena marked the first time that a Stag shot .900 or better from the floor with at least 10 made field goals since Jan. 2, 2005 when DeWitt Maxwell shot 12-for-13 on his way to 26 points in a win over Iona.
 
THE NIAGARA UNIVERSITY PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara most recently fell at home against the Mount, 68-58, to slip to 5-13 overall and 2-6 in the MAAC. In addition to the Mount and the Stags, Niagara has lost league games to Siena, Saint Peter's, Iona, and Manhattan. The Purps own conference wins against Sacred Heart and Canisius.
 
The Stags and Purple Eagles shared one non-conference foe, with Fairfield defeating Le Moyne and Niagara falling to the Dolphins, both in Syracuse in November.
 
Justin Page leads Niagara in scoring, ranking 17th in the MAAC at 12.7 points per contest.
 
EARLIER THIS SEASON
Brandon Benjamin scored a game-high and new career-best 23 points, and Deuce Turner scored 12 of his 17 after halftime to lead Fairfield to an 83-75 victory on Jan. 4 at Niagara. Four Stags scored in double figures with a total of nine players contributing to the scoring in the MAAC road victory.
 
Braden Sparks was also a big part of the Stags' second half, netting 11 of his 15 after the break. Declan Wucherpfennig was the fourth Stag in double figures with 12 points, and the freshman also collected seven rebounds as Fairfield earned a 31-24 advantage on the glass.
 
Rounding out the scoring, Tony Williams had five points, Halon Rawlins scored four, Cam Estevez tallied three, and the duo of Eric Mejia and Isaac Munkadi scored two points apiece.
 
As a unit, the Stags shot 29-for-57 (.50.9%) from the field, 6-for-16 (37.5%) from three-point range and 19-for-21 (season-best 90.5%) from the charity stripe.
 
US AND THEM
Niagara leads the all-time series by a 49-39 count. The Stags last swept Niagara in the 2021-22 season and are in search of their first three-game winning streak over the Purple Eagles since taking five in a row in a stretch from 2016 through 2018.
 
SECOND TIME AROUND
Fairfield will complete its season series with both Niagara and Canisius this weekend. The Stags have played both ends of one MAAC home-and-home to date, avenging a December road loss at Manhattan with a 98-62 win over the Jaspers on Jan. 14 at Mahoney Arena.

Fairfield will be done with five MAAC opponents for the regular season — Merrimack (one game), Rider (one game), Manhattan, Niagara, and Canisius — before beginning this year's ledger against Iona (one game), Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, or Mount St. Mary's (one game).
 
In a scheduling anomaly, the Stags' one and only regular season game with defending MAAC Champion Mount St. Mary's is set for March 1 — the final day of the regular season.
 
LET THE SPARKS FLY
Braden Sparks is the MAAC's leading scorer at 17.5 points per game. The senior also leads the MAAC and ranks 38th nationally in made three-pointers per game (3.00), while slotting third in the conference and 39th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.411).
 
Sparks also enters the week ranked fifth in the MAAC in free throw percentage (.859) and eighth in the conference in overall field goal percentage (.418).
 
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMIN
Brandon Benjamin is one of 14 players in the nation to average a double-double, posting 13.8 points and a MAAC-best 10.0 rebounds per outing. Among those 14, Benjamin joins UNC's Caleb Wilson and Washington's Hannes Steinbach as the only true freshmen on the ledger. He ranks 16th in the nation in rebounds per game and sixth nationally with 4.26 offensive boards per outing.
 
A four-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, Benjamin also ranks second in the MAAC in blocks (1.47/game) and field goal percentage (.589). He is 10th overall and second among freshmen in scoring (13.8 ppg) and leads the conference with eight double-doubles.
 
CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARDS
Led by Brandon Benjamin's conference-best 10.0 rebounds per game, as well as 7.5 per contest from Declan Wucherpfennig, the Stags are currently leading the MAAC in total rebounding (38.80/game), offensive rebounding (13.95/game), and rebounding margin (+4.3).
 
The Stags' offensive rebounding average of 13.95 caroms per game is also good for 17th in the nation.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
The Stags have started four true freshmen (Benjamin, Rawlins, Williams, Wucherpfennig) in seven games this season. To date, no other Division I team has reported a starting lineup featuring four true freshmen this season.
 
SATURDAYS ARE FOR THE STAGS
Fairfield caps the weekend homestand on Saturday, Jan. 24 with a 7 p.m. visit from Canisius.
 
The Griffs, who will play across town at Sacred Heart on Thursday, come to Connecticut with a record of 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the MAAC.