Nov. 18, 2008

FAIRFIELD, CT - Setting The Scene: The second round of the Battle of Fairfield takes place Tuesday night at 7:30 when the Sacred Heart men's basketball team heads to the Arena at Harbor Yard to face the Fairfield Stags. The Pioneers will play the first three games of the season on the road, and then settle in for a five-game homestand.

Series: This is the just the second career meeting between the two schools. Fairfield won the inaugural meeting last year, 84-75.

Sacred Heart vs. the MAAC: The Pioneers are 19-10 all-time against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Coneference. SHU is 12-1 against Marist and 5-3 against Siena. The Pioneers have also faced Iona (1-1), Duquesne (0-1), Fairfield (0-1) Manhattan (0-1), Loyola (1-0) and Rider (0-2).

Scouting the Opponent: Fairfield was picked to finished second in the MAAC this season, but opened the year with a tough non-conference game at Memphis. The Stags fell at the FedEx Forum 90-63, but sophomore forward Warren Edney had an impressive performance with 24 points. He shot 8-12 from the field and 6-9 from the line. He also collected three rebounds and three assists.

Senior guard Jonathan Han had 18 points and seven assists, but turned the ball over 12 times.

The Stags shot 50 percent from the field but committed 26 turnovers.

Welcome Back: It didn't take senior Joey Henley long to shake off the rust. After missing all of last season with an injury, he came back strong in the season opener at Holy Cross. The Kent, WA native has a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, shooting 6 of 10 from the field.

Youth Movement: Head coach Dave Bike started two freshmen in the backcourt in the season opener. Steve Zazuri and Shane Gibson god the nod and played significant minutes. Gibson played a game-high 36 minutes, scoring nine point and dishing out three assists. Zazuri started at the point and didn't score. He had one assist, a steal and a rebound before fouling out in 24 minutes.

SHU Against Connecticut Opponents: Sacred Heart has a 173-129 record all-time against schools from the Nutmeg State. The Pioneers have a 66-59 record against schools that are currently Division I in the state, with 34 of those wins coming against Quinnipiac. The Pioneers have a high of 39 wins against the University of Bridgeport during the SHU Division II years.

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