Something has to give in Bridgeport

Two teams on a downward spiral meet in Bridgeport, Conn. on Friday night in a MAAC showdown. The 5-5 Fairfield Stags play host to the 3-7 Marist Red Foxes in a game where one team has to emerge as the winner. Fairfield has lost three straight conference games while the wheels have fallen off for a Marist team that was three minutes away from upsetting undefeated Siena on Jan. 15. Marist is on a four-game slide.
Although Fairfield entered the season as a team with aspirations of making it to the NCAA tournament, injuries have derailed those hopes for now. Sophomore Warren Edney, who averages 9.7 ppg, is likely out for a month with an injured achilles while Greg Nero and Herbie Allen are also battling nagging injuries. Nero is the team's leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, but he has been plagued by back pain and was limited to just 10 minutes in the team's latest loss to Manhattan. Finally, guard Herbie Allen has an injured wrist.
Fairfield enters this game in its most vulnerable position since head coach Ed Cooley took over the program. According to an interview Cooley did with The Mirror's Tom Cleary, the team is rattled from its slide. "Our psyche is somewhat shaky," Cooley said. "We haven't played our best basketball. But I think our best basketball is ahead of us. We need to get back on the winning track."
One constant for Fairfield is preseason first-team guard Jonathan Han. The crafty lefty averages 12.5 ppg and is second in the MAAC with 5.3 apg. His match-up with David Devezin is likely to determine the winner of the game. Han flourishes while driving-and-dishing while Devezin makes his living driving to the rim and looking to score.
Marist is hard to read entering this game. The talent is obviously there, but the team has not responded after what should have been a sure win against No. 1 Siena. The Red Foxes are finding every way imaginable to lose games. Missed free-throws, listless play, and a 35-foot three-pointer to send a game into overtime are among them. After losing back-to-back games in the McCann Center, Marist needs to regroup heading into the Arena at Harbor Yard. One weapon that Marist has firing on all cylinders right now is senior captain Kaylen Gregory. The Virgin Islands native scored a career-high 23 points against Loyola and showed just how dangerous he can be. Gregory knocked down three-pointers with ease and brought the crowd to its feet with a soaring dunk through the middle of the lane. While Javon Parris has started every game this season, Gregory deserves another shot in the top five. Gregory emerged as a starter after camp but quickly lost his spot to sophomore guard Dejuan Goodwin.
Although lineups are impossible to predict for Fairfield due to injuries, Marist's starting five should look like this:

G David Devezin
G Dejuan Goodwin
G Kaylen Gregory
F Ryan Schneider
F Korey Bauer