Aisha Faulkner/The Mirror
After stumbling through a portion of their MAAC schedule, the Men’s Basketball team is coming off two straight wins and is preparing to host the first place Iona Gaels this Friday night.
The Stags have come together collectively in their last two contests, beating Rider 61-52 and most recently taking care of Saint Peter’s by a double-digit margin. The team was scheduled to face Marist this past Sunday, but the contest was postponed due to a tragic fire over the weekend that claimed the lives of three Marist students.
Nevertheless, Coach Sydney Johnson is ready to make sure the Stags keep improving, stay focused, and become more consistent heading into the team’s five-game home stretch.
“Something that we expected this year was for us to be balanced, and that is key for us,” said Johnson. “All of our players have had stretches of not being perfect, but hopefully everyone can start clicking at the right time for us, because when we do we’re a pretty good team.”
Versatility and balance are huge factors for the Stags, as the team had four players who scored double-digits in the victory over Saint Peter’s last week. Although Fairfield is the type of team that thrives off scoring in bursts, Coach Johnson is hoping for a more levelheaded approach as the season progresses.
“We have a huge group of players that can provide a spark at any given time, but we want to become more reliable and to know what to expect from ourselves game to game. We like momentum, but consistency is very important,” said Johnson.
The Stags will certainly be tested this Friday against Iona, who currently holds the top spot in the MAAC standings as well as an overall 15-5 record.
The Gaels are led by Mike Glover and Lamont “Mo Mo” Jones, who are both averaging double-digits scoring figures, while senior guard Scott Machado is leading the entire nation with an astounding average of 10.2 assists per game.
Although Coach Johnson realizes this is a game that has been circled on the calendar since the beginning of the season, he does not want his squad to be overhyped going into the contest.
“We’ve been a lot better as a team when we focus on our own style and what we have to do in order to win. These players have had experience in situations like these and it’s a situation where our mental maturity will be tested, but we just have to be true to ourselves,” said Johnson.
With Iona and Fairfield being the two MAAC powerhouses going into the season, the Arena at Harbor Yard should have an exciting atmosphere with the Stags looking to move up into the upper-echelon of the conference.
“It is one game versus a worthy and well-coached opponent, we just need to come out and execute what we do in practice and play our game,” said Johnson.
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