# 2011–12 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Fairfield Stags men's basketball team represented Fairfield University during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Stags, led by first year head coach Sydney Johnson, played their home games at Webster Bank Arena, with games during the CIT played at Alumni Hall, and are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 22–15, 12–6 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the championship game of the MAAC Basketball tournament to Loyola (MD). They were invited to the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Yale, Manhattan, and Robert Morris en route to the semifinals where they fell to Mercer.

## Roster

| Number | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| 3 | Derek Needham | Guard | 5–11 | 180 | Junior | Dolton, Illinois |
| 5 | Adam Jones | Forward | 6–8 | 210 | Freshman | Winter Park, Florida |
| 11 | Desmond Wade | Guard | 5–8 | 150 | Junior | Linden, New Jersey |
| 12 | Sean Crawford | Guard | 5–10 | 150 | Junior | Laurelton, New York |
| 13 | Gary Martin | Guard | 6–2 | 180 | Senior | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 15 | Maurice Barrow | Forward | 6–5 | 210 | Sophomore | St. Albans, New York |
| 21 | Rakim Sanders | Guard/Forward | 6–5 | 228 | Senior | Pawtucket, Rhode Island |
| 23 | Jamel Fields | Guard | 6–1 | 175 | Sophomore | Albany, New York |
| 25 | Colin Nickerson | Guard | 6–3 | 150 | Junior | Waukegan, Illinois |
| 33 | Vincent Van Nes | Forward | 7–0 | 230 | Freshman | Dorchester, England |
| 34 | Ryan Olander | Forward | 7–0 | 220 | Senior | Mansfield, Connecticut |
| 41 | Keith Matthews | Forward | 6–5 | 200 | Sophomore | Sebastian, Florida |
| | Keegan Hyland | Guard | 6–3 | 180 | Sophomore | Portland, Maine |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2011* 7:30 pm | | Bridgeport | W 97–70 | — | Webster Bank Arena (1,467) Bridgeport, CT |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2011* 5:30 pm | | vs. Quinnipiac Connecticut 6 Classic | W 72–60 | 1–0 | Mohegan Sun Arena (1,406) Uncasville, CT |
| November 14, 2011* 7:30 pm, Cox Sports | | Providence | L 72–80 | 1–1 | Webster Bank Arena (6,375) Bridgeport, CT |
| November 17, 2011* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 57–67 | 1–2 | Williams Arena (10,641) Minneapolis, MN |
| November 20, 2011* 1:00 pm | | Holy Cross | W 73–52 | 2–2 | Webster Bank Arena (2,479) Bridgeport, CT |
| November 24, 2011* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Arizona State Old Spice Classic First Round | W 55–44 | 3–2 | HP Field House (3,537) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 25, 2011* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Dayton Old Spice Classic Semifinals | L 49–56 | 3–3 | HP Field House (3,680) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 27, 2011* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Indiana State Old Spice Classic 3rd Place Game | L 66–72 | 3–4 | HP Field House (NA) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| December 2, 2011 7:00 pm | | at Niagara | W 78–75 | 4–4 (1–0) | Gallagher Center (1,520) Lewiston, NY |
| December 4, 2011 5:00 pm | | at Canisius | W 68–59 | 5–4 (2–0) | Koessler Athletic Center (1,011) Buffalo, NY |
| December 9, 2011* 9:00 pm, SNY | | vs. Old Dominion | W 59–51 | 6–4 | MassMutual Center (4,412) Springfield, MA |
| December 11, 2011* 1:00 pm | | New Hampshire | W 58–52 | 7–4 | Webster Bank Arena (1,926) Bridgeport, CT |
| December 22, 2011* 7:00 pm | | at No. 9 Connecticut | L 71–79 | 7–5 | XL Center (13,821) Hartford, CT |
| December 28, 2011* 7:00 pm | | at Drexel | L 69–77 | 7–6 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (2,469) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 1, 2012 1:00 pm | | Canisius | W 72–54 | 8–6 (3–0) | Webster Bank Arena (2,005) Bridgeport, CT |
| January 6, 2012 7:00 pm, SNY | | at Siena | L 60–73 | 8–7 (3–1) | Times Union Center (6,765) Albany, NY |
| January 8, 2012 2:00 pm | | at Manhattan | L 51–53 | 8–8 (3–2) | Draddy Gymnasium (1,358) Riverdale, NY |
| January 13, 2012 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | Loyola (MD) | L 63–66 | 8–9 (3–3) | Webster Bank Arena (2,012) Bridgeport, CT |
| January 16, 2012 7:30 pm | | Rider | W 61–52 | 9–9 (4–3) | Webster Bank Arena (1,937) Bridgeport, CT |
| January 19, 2012 7:00 pm | | at Saint Peter's | W 75–63 | 10–9 (5–3) | Yanitelli Center (1,146) Jersey City, NJ |
| January 22, 2012 2:00 pm | | at Marist | Rescheduled due to inclement weather | Rescheduled due to inclement weather | McCann Field House Poughkeepsie, NY |
| January 27, 2012 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Iona | L 62–71 | 10–10 (5–4) | Webster Bank Arena (4,055) Bridgeport, CT |
| January 29, 2012 1:00 pm | | Marist | W 81–53 | 11–10 (6–4) | Webster Bank Arena (2,070) Bridgeport, CT |
| February 3, 2012 7:30 pm | | Niagara | W 77–69 | 12–10 (7–4) | Webster Bank Arena (2,118) Bridgeport, CT |
| February 5, 2012 3:30 pm, SNY | | Siena | W 64–56 | 13–10 (8–4) | Webster Bank Arena (1,477) Bridgeport, CT |
| February 9, 2012 7:30 pm | | Manhattan | W 60–54 | 14–10 (9–4) | Webster Bank Arena (1,445) Bridgeport, CT |
| February 12, 2012 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola (MD) | W 68–51 | 15–10 (10–4) | Reitz Arena (1,925) Baltimore, MD |
| February 15, 2012 7:30 pm | | Saint Peter's | W 61–38 | 16–10 (11–4) | Webster Bank Arena (1,729) Bridgeport, CT |
| February 18, 2012* 4:00 pm | | at Milwaukee ESPN BracketBusters | L 63–67 | 16–11 | U.S. Cellular Arena (5,683) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 20, 2012 7:00 pm | | at Marist Rescheduled from 1/22/2012 | W 60–49 | 17–11 (12–4) | McCann Field House (1,306) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| February 24, 2012 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Iona | L 72–77 | 17–12 (12–5) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,611) New Rochelle, NY |
| February 26, 2012 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Rider | L 62–65 | 17–13 (12–6) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| MAAC tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2012 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (5) Rider Quarterfinals | W 65–63 | 18–13 | MassMutual Center (2,256) Springfield, MA |
| March 4, 2012 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (1) Iona Semifinals | W 85–75 | 19–13 | MassMutual Center (2,778) Springfield, MA |
| March 5, 2012 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (2) Loyola (MD) Championship Game | L 44–48 | 19–14 | MassMutual Center (1,821) Springfield, MA |
| CollegeInsider.com tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2012* 7:00 pm | | Yale First Round | W 68–56 | 20–14 | Webster Bank Arena (1,744) Bridgeport, CT |
| March 18, 2012* 4:00 pm | | Manhattan Second Round | W 69–57 | 21–14 | Alumni Hall (1,492) Fairfield, CT |
| March 21, 2012* 7:00 pm | | Robert Morris Quarterfinals | W 67–61 | 22–14 | Alumni Hall (1,407) Fairfield, CT |
| March 24, 2012* 7:00 pm | | Mercer Semifinals | L 59–64 | 22–15 | Alumni Hall (1,557) Fairfield, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||