2017–18 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team represented Fairfield University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Stags, led by seventh-year head coach Sydney Johnson, played their home games at Webster Bank Arena, with three games at Alumni Hall, as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 17–16 overall, 9–9 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed at the MAAC tournament, they defeated No. 11 seed Marist, upset No. 3 seed Niagara and No. 7 seed Quinnipiac to advance to the championship game where they lost to Iona.

2017–18 Fairfield Stags men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	17–16 (9–9 MAAC)
Head coach	Sydney Johnson (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Mitch Buonaguro Tom Parrotta Tyson Wheeler
Home arena	Webster Bank Arena Alumni Hall
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 MAAC men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Rider	15	–	3		.833			22	–	10		.688
Canisius	15	–	3		.833			21	–	12		.636
Niagara	12	–	6		.667			19	–	14		.576
Iona †	11	–	7		.611			20	–	14		.588
Manhattan	9	–	9		.500			14	–	17		.452
Fairfield	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Quinnipiac	7	–	11		.389			12	–	21		.364
Monmouth	7	–	11		.389			11	–	20		.355
Saint Peter's	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
Siena	4	–	14		.222			8	–	24		.250
Marist	4	–	14		.222			6	–	25		.194
† 2018 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Stags finished the 2016–17 season 16–15, 11–9 in MAAC play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament to Siena. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to UMBC.

Roster

2017–18 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G/F 0 Olivier Cadieux 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Montreal, Canada G 1 Jerome Segura 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Houston, Texas G 2 Taj Benning 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Fair Lawn, New Jersey G 3 Tyler Nelson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Bradford, Massachusetts G 4 Jared Harper 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Beverly Hills, California G 5 Aidas Kavaliauskas 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Kaunas, Lithuania G 10 Thomas Nolan 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Trumbull, Connecticut G 11 Alonde Legrand 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Harlem, NY F 12 Kevin Senghore-Peterson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Fr Kinna, Sweden F 13 Jonathan Kasibabu 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo F 14 Matija Milin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Belgrade, Serbia F 15 Wassef Methnani 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Fr Kairouan, Tunisia G 23 Ferron Flavors, Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Federal Way, Washington G 25 Jesus Cruz 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Puerto Rico F 30 Omar El-Sheikh 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Cairo, Egypt F 35 Aziz Sultan Essa 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Abu Al Hasany, Kuwait	Head coach Sydney Johnson (Princeton) Assistant coach(es) Mitch Buonaguro (Boston College) Tom Parrotta (Fordham) Tyson Wheeler (Rhode Island) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: November 16, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Oct 23, 2017* 7:00 pm		Hofstra Exhibition to benefit Save the Children	W 94–78		Alumni Hall (1,453) Fairfield, CT
Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm		Hofstra	L 86–88		Alumni Hall (1,247) Fairfield, CT
Non-conference regular season
Nov 11, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Penn	W 80–72	1–0	Webster Bank Arena (1,672) Bridgeport, CT
Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Loyola (MD)	W 64–52	2–0	Webster Bank Arena (1,231) Bridgeport, CT
Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN+		at No. 19 Purdue	L 64–106	2–1	Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN
Nov 24, 2017* 4:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Jacksonville Wright State Tournament	L 84–92	2–2	Nutter Center (3,456) Fairborn, OH
Nov 25, 2017* 2:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Gardner–Webb Wright State Tournament	W 75–64	3–2	Nutter Center (3,030) Fairborn, OH
Nov 26, 2017* 3:30 pm, ESPN3		at Wright State Wright State Tournament	L 56–57	3–3	Nutter Center (3,045) Fairborn, OH
Dec 1, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Wagner	L 76–78	3–4	Spiro Sports Center (793) Staten Island, NY
Dec 6, 2017* 11:00 am, ESPN3		at Houston	L 66–88	3–5	H&PE Arena (3,548) Houston, TX
Dec 10, 2017* 3:30 pm		at LIU Brooklyn	W 76–72	4–5	Barclays Center (1,242) Brooklyn, NY
Dec 17, 2017* 1:00 pm, Facebook Live		Old Dominion	L 77–82 ^OT	4–6	Alumni Hall (2,410) Fairfield, CT
Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, Facebook Live		New Hampshire	W 78–68	5–6	Webster Bank Arena (923) Bridgeport, CT
MAAC regular season
Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Saint Peter's	W 70–61	6–6 (1–0)	Webster Bank Arena (1,112) Bridgeport, CT
Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm		at Manhattan	L 58–61	6–7 (1–1)	Draddy Gymnasium (1,523) Riverdale, NY
Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm		at Rider	L 77–96	6–8 (1–2)	Alumni Gymnasium (1,405) Lawrenceville, NJ
Jan 7, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		at Iona	L 65–84	6–9 (1–3)	Hynes Athletic Center (1,749) New Rochelle, NY
Jan 11, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Manhattan	L 53–59	6–10 (1–4)	Webster Bank Arena (1,214) Bridgeport, CT
Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Marist	L 89–95 ^OT	6–11 (1–5)	McCann Field House (1,288) Poughkeepsie, NY
Jan 20, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Niagara	W 104–85	7–11 (2–5)	Webster Bank Arena (1,312) Bridgeport, CT
Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Rider	L 88–90	7–12 (2–6)	Webster Bank Arena (1,137) Bridgeport, CT
Jan 27, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Quinnipiac MAAC Tripleheader	L 70–75	7–13 (2–7)	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (2,545) Uniondale, NY
Jan 29, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Iona	W 103–100 ^OT	8–13 (3–7)	Webster Bank Arena (1,179) Bridgeport, CT
Feb 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Monmouth	W 79–78	9–13 (4–7)	OceanFirst Bank Center (2,955) West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 5, 2018 7:00 pm, SNY		Siena	W 78–65	10–13 (5–7)	Webster Bank Arena (1,034) Bridgeport, CT
Feb 10, 2018 3:00 pm		at Niagara	L 83–95	10–14 (5–8)	Gallagher Center (1,389) Lewiston, NY
Feb 12, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Canisius	L 63–81	10–15 (5–9)	Koessler Athletic Center (1,011) Buffalo, NY
Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, SNY		Marist	W 83–79	11–15 (6–9)	Webster Bank Arena (1,191) Bridgeport, CT
Feb 17, 2018 1:00 pm, SNY		Quinnipiac	W 102–98 ^2OT	12–15 (7–9)	Webster Bank Arena (1,762) Bridgeport, CT
Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Siena	W 70–69	13–15 (8–9)	Times Union Center (6,924) Albany, NY
Feb 24, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Monmouth	W 69–66	14–15 (9–9)	Webster Bank Arena (1,341) Bridgeport, CT
MAAC tournament
Mar 1, 2018 10:00 pm, ESPN3	(6)	vs. (11) Marist First round	W 71–57	15–15	Times Union Center  Albany, NY
Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3	(6)	vs. (3) Niagara Quarterfinals	W 90–77	16–15	Times Union Center (2,630) Albany, NY
Mar 4, 2018 9:30 pm, ESPNU	(6)	vs. (7) Quinnipiac Semifinals	W 74–64	17–15	Times Union Center (2,151) Albany, NY
Mar 5, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN	(6)	vs. (4) Iona Championship	W 83–71	17–16	Times Union Center (3,329) Albany, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References