Fairfield hosts Niagara Thursday, Manhattan Saturday

The Fairfield Stags hope that some home-cooking will snap a four-game losing streak, returning to the friendly confines of Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT. for a pair of games this week. The Stags will host Niagara University on Thursday night (January 16) at 8:30 PM, followed by a matinee contest against Manhattan College on Saturday afternoon (January 18) at 1:30 PM. Both games will be televised with ESPN3 on Thursday and SNY on Saturday providing the coverage. The Stags have yet to play Niagara this campaign, and will travel to meet the Purple Eagles on February 20. Fairfield fell to Manhattan in Riverdale, NY on January 4 by a score of 83-57. Head coach Sydney Johnson, despite Fairfield-s overall 3-13 mark this season, has seen his squad progress in practice sessions, and is hopeful of a turnaround in the final 15 games of the season. Johnson led Fairfield to 20 and 19 victories in his first two seasons as head coach. In the previous 10 seasons, the Stags own the most wins of any team in the MAAC with 109 conference victories. Marcus Gilbert (13.1 ppg) and Maurice Barrow (11.8 ppg) have paced the Stags in scoring, while Amadou Sidibe and Coleman Johnson share the rebounding leadership with 5.6 per game. Both Gilbert and Barrow have also been active on the boards with 5.0 and 4.9 rpg, respectively.