ATLANTIC CITY – Fairfield University Men's Basketball saw its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference postseason run come to an end in the semifinal round on Sunday evening with a 76-61 loss to Siena. The seventh-seeded Stags were paced by double-doubles from both Brandon Benjamin and Declan Wucherpfennig as two of four Fairfield players to net double figures at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
 
After tonight's action, Fairfield stands at 21-13 – the ninth 20-win season in program history. The Stags defeated 10th-seeded Manhattan and second-seeded Saint Peter's earlier in the week to reach the semifinal round.
 
Third-seeded Siena heads to the MAAC Championship Game with a mark of 22-11. The Stags and Saints split their regular season series with each team winning on its home court.
 
"I want to thank my guys for the opportunity to coach them this year. There's a lot of upset guys in that locker room, and there was a definite bond between these young men. And to have the opportunity to be a part of that was special for me," said Head Coach Chris Casey. "As far as the game goes, I thought we played very hard. We didn't get a handle on them in the beginning of the game; they made some threes that put us at a disadvantage and had us fighting from behind."
 
Benjamin's double-double was his MAAC-leading 16th, as the rookie scored 10 points and pulled in a game-best 12 rebounds. With the effort, he surpassed La Salle great Lionel Simmons for the MAAC freshman rebounding record with 333. At 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, Benjamin is the first MAAC freshman to average a double-double for a season.
 
Wucherpfennig's double-double was his 10th on the campaign. He scored all 13 of his points in the second half and collected 10 rebounds. Wucherpfennig hauled in double-digit rebounds in the last five games overall, posting a double-double in three of those contests.
 
Matching Wucherpfennig with a team-high 13 points was Braden Sparks, who also dished out a team-leading five assists. Sparks ran his season total to 584 points, moving up to seventh place on Fairfield's single-season scoring list. He also canned his 96th three-pointer to grab sole possession of third place on the Stags' single-season ledger.

The fourth Stag in double figures tonight was Tony Williams, who drained two three-pointers as a part of his 12 points and also led the defense with three steals. Williams netted double figures eight times during the regular season and then did so in all three games of Fairfield's MAAC postseason run. He averaged 13.0 points per game in Atlantic City.
 
Deuce Turner added six points for the Stags, Eric Mejia scored five with three rebounds, and Halon Rawlins scored two.
 
"The hard thing about this time of year in college basketball is when it ends, it ends so abruptly. You have your heart and soul into it and you're pouring so much energy into it, and then all of a sudden, it ends. And that's difficult," noted Casey, who is in his 40th consecutive season as a college basketball coach. "But my message to the guys was this: You may not call it successful because we didn't get exactly what we wanted. But there were certainly a lot of successes along the way, and we did some really good things. The returning guys need to make this sting, then let it go and move forward. But they also need to be proud of the things they accomplished this year, which was a long list."
 
All-MAAC performers Justice Shoats and Gavin Doty led Siena with 26 and 25 points, respectively. Francis Folefac added 10 points and nine rebounds. The Saints will challenge top-seeded Merrimack on Tuesday at 9 p.m. for the MAAC Championship.