GAME NOTES: The Fairfield Stags will close out play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at home, as they play host to the South Dakota Coyotes at Webster Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Sydney Johnson's Stags opened the 2014-15 season on the right foot, topping Central Connecticut State (71-63), but the team hasn't won since, dropping three straight games, including two in this event with Friday's loss to Wofford (54-36) and Saturday's 74-60 decision to Sam Houston State.

The Coyotes are still searching for that elusive first win of the season. South Dakota is 0-4 on the campaign and most recently dropped a tough 72-68 decision to Wofford on Saturday as part of this event. South Dakota lost in Friday action of this round-robin to Sam Houston State in triple-overtime (93-85).

The Coyotes were done in by Wofford's Karl Cochran, who erupted for 31 points in leading the Terriers past South Dakota on Saturday. Adam Thoseby led the way for South Dakota with a career-high 18 points, 13 of which he scored in the final three and half minutes of the contest. Thoseby was the only Coyote to finish in double figures in the loss, despite the team shooting a respectable .462 from the floor overall.

It was a much higher shooting percentage than the team has been accustomed to early on, with South Dakota converting just 39.4 percent from the field over the first four games. Brandon Bos leads the team in the scoring column, but his 13.5 ppg is volume driven, at a mere .333 efficiency from the floor. Tyler Larsen is the only other Coyote currently averaging double digits at 11.5 ppg. The team's top two scorers struggled big time against Wofford, combining for a mere seven points.

The Stags put up their most points since the season opener, but it wasn't nearly enough in Saturday's 14-point loss to Sam Houston State. Fairfield shot a mere .417 from the floor and allowed a two-point halftime deficit balloon in the second half, as Sam Houston State delivered on 65 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes of action. Marcus Gilbert led the Stags in defeat with 14 points. Tyler Nelson joined him in double digits, coming off the bench to tally 11 points.

Fairfield has struggled to secure wins this season thanks mostly to an ugly -18.5 scoring margin. The team is generating just 56.5 ppg, while allowing a generous 75.0. The team has really struggled to find an offensive rhythm, shooting a meager .374 from the field, including just .294 from behind the arc. Gilbert is the only real consistent scoring threat thus far, leading the team with 15.0 ppg. Coleman Johnson is second on the team, coming off the bench with 9.5 ppg. Amadou Sidibe adds 7.5 ppg to the cause and leads the team with 8.0 rpg.

Neither team has gotten off to a good start this season. Go with the home team in this one, although it wouldn't be surprising to see South Dakota finally land in the win column.