Category: MAAC

Fairfield 74, Rider 70: No Gilbert, No Problem For Stags

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – There are lies, damned lies, and statistics as Mr. Twain once told us, of course, and, yes, there are times where the numbers (even advanced ones) only give an obstructed view of what is really transpiring.

However, for the disappointing 2015-16 Rider basketball team, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in hyperbolic topology to figure out what the biggest problem is.

Last season, the Broncs were picked seventh in the preseason MAAC poll, and finished alone in second at 15-5. With a break (or one less injury to senior center Matt Lopez), Rider might have been even better and perhaps wouldn’t have been upset by Saint Peter’s in the MAAC quarterfinals.

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Iona 101, Fairfield 77: It’s An A.J. English World

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Things got pretty awkward for A.J. English in the final five minutes of Tuesday’s eventual destruction of Fairfield at the Hynes Center in the MAAC opener for both teams. Reporters and SIDs had finished scrambling furiously through media notes and websites, and knew – as anyone in the stands could likely surmise by the sheer volume of shots English was hitting – they were watching an historic performance. Continue reading “Iona 101, Fairfield 77: It’s An A.J. English World” →

Fairfield 82, Columbia 81 (OT) : Break Up The Runnin’ Stags

Tyler Nelson (photo courtesy: Fairfield Athletics)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Kevin Degnan – at 6’8” and mostly a post player – had only seven career three-pointers, but there he was on the wing in front of a Fairfield fast break, picking a low pass off his ankles and drilling a three-pointer anyway. As the intimate crowd roared, Degnan gave a clapping Sydney Johnson a high-five on the way back down the court.

Welcome to the new world order that is Fairfield basketball in the last two weeks. And it claimed another victim Friday afternoon, this time Columbia, 82-81 in overtime, in what has to be considered a mild upset even if it were in the friendly confines of Alumni Gym.

If it were up to Johnson, Fairfield (3-3) would play much more in ancient Alumni Gym, where a holiday crowd of 1,886 made their presence known, with Johnson exhorting them on, almost to midcourt on a couple of big Columbia (3-3) possessions at the end of regulation and the extra session. The Stags will play two more times at Alumni this season, including a MAAC game against Saint Peter’s, but there are no current plans to expand that number.

Continue reading “Fairfield 82, Columbia 81 (OT) : Break Up The Runnin’ Stags” →