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GAME NOTES
Wagner will play its second straight Ivy League opponent and will be looking for better results when the Bulldogs of Yale (2-4) arrive on Grymes Hill on Saturday. The Seahawks saw their impressive four-game winning streak come to an end in an 84-69 setback at Columbia on Wednesday night. With the loss, Wagner fell to 4-2 on the season.
The Matchup
The Bulldogs are the second of three Ivy League foes that Wagner will meet this season as the Seahawks will host Brown on Dec. 21. Yale is fresh off a 76-66 victory over intrastate rival Holy Cross. on Wednesday night The Bulldogs also own a win over Oregon St. of the Pac 10, having knocked off the Beavers 53-52 in Corvallis, OR on Nov. 24. Last season, Wagner and Yale squared off in New Haven CT and the Seahawks earned a 71-68 Dec. 1 victory. In a series that began during the 1987-88 season, Wagner leads 5-2. having won five in a row. Mike Deane is a perfect 3-0 vs. Yale in his tenure at Wagner but all three contests have been close with the Seahawks winning by an average of just 4.7 points per outing. The Seahawks get to tangle with the brother of the coach who just beat them as Columbia is guided by Joe Jones while Yale is headed by Joe's older brother, James Jones.
WAGNER IN THE NEC
Wagner enters the Yale game ranked first in the NEC in four major statistical categories: Scoring Defense (65.5), Scoring Margin (+3.7), Field Goal % Defense (.401) and Assist/ Turnover Ratio (0.90).
THE COACHES
Wagner College head coach Mike Deane is in his 25th season as a head coach and his sixth as the head man of the Seahawks. He holds an overall coaching mark of 419-294, having eclipsed the 400-win plateau last season. His 416 wins entering the season ranked him 27th among all active coaches. In his sixth season at Wagner, Deane is 78-74 on Grymes Hill,In 2007-08, Wagner delivered a memorable and milestone season, recording that 23-8 overall record and a 15-3 mark in the NEC, which was good for second place. The 23 wins set a school record for most wins in a season, besting the old mark of 21 wins accomplished on three occasions, 1967-68, 1978-79 and 2002-03. James Jones is in his 10th season at Yale and had guided the Bulldogs to success not seen in New Haven in 40 years. In 2001-02, Jones led the Bulldogs to their first Ivy League title since 1962-63 and the first postseason tournament victory in the 107-year history of Yale basketball. The team won 21 games, the second most in the modern era of Yale basketball, and reached the second round of the NIT. The longest tenured coach in the Ivy League, Jones earned his 100th victory at Yale when the Bulldogs beat Columbia on Feb. 9, 2007. He is only the fourth coach in school history with at least 100 wins. His overall record at Yale is 119-138, including a 69-57 (.548) mark in Ivy games.
