Freshman Derek Needham has been the leading scorer for the Stags this season and will look to continue that success against American (Peter Caty/The Mirror).
The Stags (2-1)make the trip tonight back down to the Mid Atlantic region for the first of two games in Washington, D.C. Fairfield takes on American (0-4) at 7:30 p.m. at the Bender Arena. The Stags will conclude their trip with a game at Howard on Wednesday night.
Fairfield is off to its best start under head coach Ed Cooley, with the Stags lone loss coming at No. 25 Maryland, 71-42 on Tuesday night. American is 0-4, with losses to St. Francis (Pa.), Albany, Mt. St. Mary’s and most recently Florida Atlantic, 81-69, at home.
Freshman guard Derek Needham has lead the Stags in scoring in two of their three games and he has reached double figures in all three of his collegiate games. He is averaging 16.3 point and 4.3 assists per game. Senior forward Anthony Johnsonscored 18 points in the Stags season-opener against Central Connecticut to lead all Fairfield scorers and is averaging a double-double (11.7 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game).
American graduated five of its top six scorers last year, including Garrison Carr (17.9 points per game). This season the Eagles are led by sophomore forward Stephen Lumpkins (13 p.p.g, 9 r.p.g) and forward Riley Graft (12.3 p.p.g).
The two teams have met in all three years that Cooley has coached at Fairfield, winning two out of three games. Last season the Stags defeated American at Harbor Yard, 82-73 on Nov. 29. The Eagles would go on to win the Patriot League and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Villanova in the First Round.
This is a much different American squad. Lumpkins and Graft did not start a single game last year on a much quicker, guard-dominated team led by Carr and Derrick Mercer. Lumpkins played in 32 games, but averaged just over 10 minutes, while Graft played sparingly in just seven games. Graft stands at 6-11, while Lumpkins is 6-8, so they could give the Stags problem if Johnson, Mike Evanovich and Ryan Olander continue to play inconsistently or get in foul trouble early. Despite the size, the Eagles have been out rebounded 154-141 on the season.
Prediction: Fairfield 62, American 51
The Stags win in a slow, physical game. Fairfield has looked good against Central Conn. and Fordham and with the inexperience of American, the Stags should move to 3-1.
While the Mirror Sports crew can’t make the trip down to D.C., we will be following the game on the radio/web stream and will blog with our reactions after.
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