#3 Fairfield University Men’s Basketball closes out a home weekend at Mahoney Arena and opens the MAAC home-and-home with #7 Mount St. Mary's on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. The Hall of Fame duo of Bob Heussler and Joe DeSantis ’79 will be on the call for the Stags Sports Network on ESPN+.
Promotions Lil’ Stags Club Day: Lil’ Stags Club members receive one FREE youth ticket. Tickets will be emailed to members directly. $10k Full Court Putt: One student randomly selected to shoot a full court putt to win $10,00 Drink Voucher for the first 200 students (Sponsored by FUSA) Food Voucher for the first 200 students (Sponsored by FUSA)
Fairfield Weather Forecast 1% Precip. / 0.Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 37F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.
FYI: The Stag website's Men's Basketball Schedule links to Mount St. Mary's are both to Division III Mt. St. Mary's College of Newburgh, NY msmcknights.com/index.aspx and not to MAAC member Mount St. Mary's University. mountathletics.com/index.aspx.
I think that the most important thing for the Stags is to have Yetna as close to the top of his game. Sure, Goodine being sharp is important. And Seck, Bleechmore, and Smith at their best will help. But if we are going to win the MAAC tournament Yetna must be operating on all cylinders. And this team, given Fairfield's extended drought has to deliver the goods. As wonderful as this season has been, with the stellar guard play of Leach, Fields and Floyd, we want to go to the dance. As special as this year has been for Casey, fearing the worst, after the Costa Rican debacle, not winning it all is going to leave a sour taste in my mouth.
Although we usually look for offense to get us going, I’m hoping the Stags can play more consistent tough defense from beginning to end. Our recent pattern is to fall behind because other teams score too easily, then we tighten up defensive pressure in 2nd half and that ignites offense also. Easier said than done with so many of our guys still not at full speed, but hoping Goodine, Bleechmore and Smith are stronger today. I’m at the point now where I don’t think Yetna will get much better physically than he is now. Have to use him in ways that utilize what he can do and not try to get him to do more.
Nice half. Bleechmore much more active than last game. Just have to figure out how to stop Montgomery. Caution - Fields, Floyd and Goodine all have 2 fouls.
Nice stress free win! When the team shoots like that they are very tough to beat. And while the shooting from distance was obviously lights out, I was pleased to see us frequently attack the paint and rim. And the ball movement was WAY better than in recent games: 22/7 assists/turnovers.
Yetna is still painfully slow moving his feet on defense, and still struggles to elevate, but he has been incrementally better each game. And his ability to hit 3's really opens the floor on offense. Seck, while still very raw, has also gradually improved with increased minutes. Casey now has the luxury of allowing Smith to gradually work himself back into game shape.
Looking forward to the battle in Hamden next Friday night.
"Intensity and tenacity can go up and down over the course of a long season," said Interim Head Coach Chris Casey. "But today, we came out with intensity right from the opening tip, and that helped get us into a flow where we got open looks and took advantage of them. We're not always going to make 18 three-pointers, but we can control our intensity and tenacity, so we need to continue to play with and for each other to keep those intangibles as high as possible heading down the stretch."
Next: #2 Stags(W1) (16-10)(10-5 MAAC) at #1 Quinnipiac(L2) (19-6)(11-3 MAAC) on Friday, February 23 at 9pm nationally on ESPNU.
Terrific win. 3pt shooting was excellent. What impressed me the most as stated previously 22 assists vs 7 TO. More then a 3:1 assist to to ratio. Points in paint FF -26, MSM- 8. Bleechmore and Goodine seem to be back, Smith working his way back. I think time for Bleechmore to start once again and increase his minutes with JJJ ( 0-6 shooting) on the bench. Niagara did the stags a favor knocking off QU today . Let’s take advantage and beat QU soundly on Friday. Can’t leave the game in the hands of gutless referees ( Balanc travelled ).
Post by alsostagparty on Feb 18, 2024 19:47:55 GMT -5
That was fun. First few minutes were a little shaky with a slow pace but then we found the rhythm of the recent win streak and turned it on. The team plays loose when they play fast. We just need to finish on those close-in shots and layups. All the big men need a bit more work in that area. I credit Johns with aggressively creating a few shots for himself but he has to finish or get fouled on them. Stay healthy! The MAAC has yet to deal with us at full strength, fully loaded. So glad Goodine is back!
Last Edit: Feb 18, 2024 20:00:24 GMT -5 by alsostagparty
Nice stress free win! When the team shoots like that they are very tough to beat. And while the shooting from distance was obviously lights out, I was pleased to see us frequently attack the paint and rim. And the ball movement was WAY better than in recent games: 22/7 assists/turnovers.
Yetna is still painfully slow moving his feet on defense, and still struggles to elevate, but he has been incrementally better each game. And his ability to hit 3's really opens the floor on offense. Seck, while still very raw, has also gradually improved with increased minutes. Casey now has the luxury of allowing Smith to gradually work himself back into game shape.
Looking forward to the battle in Hamden next Friday night.
RE: Yetna on D - yes. He's grabbing boards and has made some plays with his hands, but the Stags almost need to play him in a zone. I think Seck has been improving on his D as we've gone along. Smith also looked to be moving better, today. It's going to be a 3-headed monster... but I think there is enough there for it to be an overall net positive for the team. We'll see over the next few weeks!
Took my second trip to Mahoney today with my boys. Still can't believe that place is ours! Just a spectacular place to watch a game and game day experience is top notch for this level of basketball.
As soon as Lefew went out this game was over. I honestly missed what happened but saw him with his shoe off on the bench and knew it was all over. Ball movement was great today and obviously the shots were falling from all over the court. Seck improves every game and Yetna is getting better and better, he was moving pretty well today
