LISTEN TO FREE AUDIO STREAM
GAME NOTES
The Wagner College men's basketball team (9-6, 2-3 NEC) will look to snap a two-game losing streak when the Seahawks meet Saint Francis (PA) (4-11, 1-4 NEC) tonight in a 7:00 pm NEC matchup in Loretto, PA.
The Matchup
The Seahawks are led in scoring by fifth-year senior guard
Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) who leads the way at 13.3 ppg., followed by fifth-year senior forward
Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) (13.1), senior forward Llew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) (12.8) and fifth-year senior point guard
Justin Drummond (10.4). Radford leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game (third in the NEC) while Drummond is the assist leader at 3.8 per game. Saint Francis (PA) has been without its leading scorer Devin Sweetney, who suffered a fractured left (non-shooting) hand in the Dec. 6 contest with St. Francis (NY). The Red Flash won the St. Francis (NY) game and, minus Sweetney, have dropped their last six games. In the absence of the 6-6 junior, the Red Flash are led by 6-7 junior forward Mislav Jukic and senior guard Marquis Ford, who check in at 10.8 and 10.1 points, respectively. Saint Francis (PA) leads the all-time series 30-23 but the Seahawks have won four straight games. Last season, Wagner eked out a 60-59 win on Grymes Hill and survived an 80-72 overtime affair in Loretto.
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. Deane holds an overall coaching mark of 425-299, 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 82-78 on Grymes Hill. In 2007-08, Wagner delivered a memorable and milestone season, recording a 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.
Don Friday was named Saint Francis' 20th men's basketball head coach on April 14, 2008, after serving in the same capacity at Division III Lycoming College for the previous five seasons. While he is in his first head job as a Division I coach, Friday brings 19 years of coaching experience to the bench, where he has been successful at every stop he has made. Friday is now charged with rebuilding a Red Flash squad that has won just 18 games the past three seasons, He has left his mark at Lebanon Valley, Bucknell and Lycoming, helping to rebuild programs during each coaching stint. Most recently, Friday led the Warriors of Lycoming to the MAC Freedom playoffs in three of his five seasons as head coach, earning MAC Coach-of-the-Year award twice. He compiled an 83-49 (.629) record at the helm of the Warriors' program
Balanced Threats
Wagner continues to receive great offensive balance and enters the week as one of two teams in the NEC (Quinnipiac) that boast four players averaging double figures. Fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) leads the way at 13.3 ppg., followed by fifth-year senior forward Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) (13.1), senior forward Llew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) (12.8) and Drummond (10.4). Radford leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game (third in the NEC) while Drummond is the assist leader at 3.8 per game.
Mundweiler Movin' On Up
Fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundweiler made the most of his trip to his home state on Dec. 30, scoring 17 points, including the 1,000th point of his career, in front of a host of friends and family members vs. Kansas St. In a classy gesture, Kansas St. presented Mundweiler with the game ball after the game in recognition of his accomplishment. Mundweiler, who enters the LIU game 34th on the Wagner all-time list with 1,049 points, reached another milestone in Wagner's win over FDU on Jan. 5 when he cracked the NEC all-time Top 10 in career three pointers made. With two three-pointers vs. CCSU, Mundweiler has now drained 257 three-pointers which place him 10th, three behind current Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway who nailed 260 from beyond the arc during his Monmouth career which spanned 1987-1991. His 257 made three pointers leave him 13 behind the school-record 270 made by Dedrick Dye (1999-2003). He is already No.1 in all-time three-pointers attempted with 699.
NEC Career Leaders - Three-Pointers Made
1. Tristan Blackwood CCSU 328 2004-08
2. Chris McGuthrie Mount St. Mary's 300 1993-96
3. Angel Santana St. Francis (NY) 294 1996-00
4. James Williams Long Island 277 2003-07
5. Justin Chiera CCSU 274 2002-06
6. Dedrick Dye Wagner 270 1999-03
7. Landy Thompson Mount St. Mary's 267 2002-06
8. Kevin Booth Mount St. Mary's 265 1989-93
9. Dave Calloway Monmouth 260 1987-91
10. Joey Mundweiler Wagner 257 2004-08
Smith Cracks Top 30 in Scoring, Joins 1,000-Point, 500-Rebound Club
Fifth-year senior forward Jamal Smith has moved up to 29th on the all-time scoring list with 1,092 career points entering the LIU game, having passed Arnold Obey (1,081 points, 1965-68) and John DiMaggio (1,088 points, 1962-65). In Wagner's victory over FDU on Jan. 5, Jamal Smith became the 64th overall player and the eighth Wagner player to hit for the 1,000/500 combination since the inception of the NEC in 1982-83.
25. Oliver Featherston (1966-69)... 1129
26. Harry Orlando (1957-60)......... 1117
27. Jamal Smith (2004-)........ 1101
Tony Rice (1992-95).............. 1101
28. Greg Clay (1980-85).............. 1099
30. John DiMaggio (1962-65)........ 1088
31. Arnold Obey (1965-68)........... 1081
32. Lamont Street (1990-94)........ 1063
33. Nigel Wyatte (2000-04).......... 1060
34. Joey Mundweiler (2004-)........ 1053
The M&M Backcourt
Freshman guard Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/ Apex Academies) continues to lead the NEC in three-point percentage with a 51 percent average on 19-of-37 shooting from beyond the arc. Freshman guard Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario/ Eastern Commerce) and redshirt junior Doug Elwell (Staten Island, NY/ Monsignor Farrell) are both sporting terrific assist to turnover ratios, though do not average the requisite 3.0 assists per game average needed to be ranked among the league leaders. Murray has dished out 26 assists with just 13 turnovers while the pin-point passing Elwell has 33 assists with just 16 turnovers.
Llew Double-Double
Radford leads the team in rebounding at 8.4 boards per game (third in the NEC) while Drummond is the assist leader at 3.8 per game. Radford posted a pair of double-doubles last week, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds vs. FDU and totaling 10 points with 12 caroms vs. LIU. The double-doubles were the fourth and fifth of his career with all five coming this season. The 6-4 Radford, one of the most improved players in the NEC, having averaged 5.1 points per game last season, has scored in double figures in 11 of Wagner's 15 games and is shooting 52 percent from the field.
