The Fairfield Stags and the Manhattan Jaspers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Draddy Gymnasium. Fairfield is 2-5 on the year so far. The Stags took out Evansville in their last game. As for Manhattan, they’re sitting at 2-3 this season and fresh off a close win over Army. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Fairfield didn’t get off to a great start in 2022-23. The Stags lost four straight games to kick off the season, falling to Wake Forest, New Hampshire, Xavier and Wagner. A win over Towson came in game five, then a loss to Mercer.
The Stags managed another victory in their Sunday game versus Evansville. Fairfield nursed a one-point lead at the break and scored 35 more from there in a 63-56 outcome. Caleb Fields topped the team on 21 points with three rebounds.
Over on the Jaspers’ side, they lost consecutive games to VCU and Fairleigh Dickinson in their first pair. Manhattan managed a blowout win over Mount St. Vincent 86-39, then lost to Northeastern before a close win over Army.
In the Army matchup, Manhattan went into the locker room with a 36-31 deficit. The Jaspers hit a 41-35 advantage in the second half and took the comeback 72-71. Tops in scoring was Josh Roberts with 17 points and nine boards.
PICK: I might take a crack at Manhattan in this one. Probably staying away, though; it should be a fairly competitive matchup. The Jaspers are coming off a nice comeback win over Army, and they’ve been competitive in two of their three losses (the outlier being a 73-56 loss to VCU in the opener). As for Fairfield, they’ve had some issues putting points on the board thus far; the Stags have scored more than 65 just twice in seven games. Manhattan should be able to cover if they’re having a decent offensive outing.