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New York, NY - After opening up conference play with a victory, Wagner returns to action tonight at 7:00 pm with a non-league game against Columbia at Levien Gym. The Seahawks are 4-3 following a 73-68 overtime win at Sacred Heart this past Saturday in the the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for the Green & White. Junior Tyler Murray led all scorers with a career-best 23 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds for his second double-double in three games. Freshman Latif Rivers added 21 points as the duo combined for 44 points, highlighted by 7-of-16 shooting from long range and 15-of-17 from the charity stripe. The combination of Murray and Rivers are the highest scoring tandem in the NEC at 35.1 points per game while accounting for 54.4 percent of the Wagner scoring.

LAST TIME OUT
The Seahawks enter tonight's game fresh off a big come-from-behind victory at Sacred Heart in which they overcame a five-point deficit with just 47 seconds remaining at the Pitt Center. Junior Tyler Murray led the way scoring a career-high 23 points, highlighted by a three pointer and a free throw over the last minute that sent the game to overtime. Freshman Latif Rivers added 21 points, fueled by four three pointers.

NATION'S BEST
Wagner leads the entire nation in free throw shooting at 81.9 percent (118-144) as three players rank among the NEC leaders. Freshman Latif Rivers, who made his first 31 collegiate free throws, ranks second nationally at 97.2 percent (35-36) while junior Tyler Murray is third in the NEC and 24th nationally at 90.9 percent (30-33).

EVEN BETTER
The Seahawks' NCAA-best free throw percentage jumps to 83.0 percent in the last five minutes of games as Wagner is connecting on 39-of-47. Freshman Latif Rivers is a perfect 10-for-10 (100.0 %) while junior Tyler Murray is 12-for-13 (.923).

A YEAR AGO
The Green & White hit on just 61.1 percent from the free throw line.

BEST IN SHOW
The Green & White also lead the Northeast Conference in three point field-goal percentage defense (.261), three-point field-goal percentage (.421) and field-goal percentage defense (.376). Nationally, those totals rank 16th, 18th and 29th, respectively.

COACHING MATCH-UP
Head coach Dan Hurley is 4-3 in this his first year at Wagner while first-year Columbia coach Kyle Smith is 4-4.

FIRST-YEAR COACHES
This will be head coach Dan Hurley's third  game (of eight) against a fellow first-year coach. He dropped the first two against Hofstra and St. John's.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA
Columbia is 4-4 and owns wins over Maryland Eastern Shore, Colgate, American and Stony Brook. The Lions, like the Seahawks, have gone 2-1 against the Patriot League. Columbia sports a high-octane offense that is averaging 75.2 points per game but also giving up 75.0 points per game. Junior Noruwa Agho leads the way, scoring 16.3 points per game with 5.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game but is shooting just 33.3 percent from long range after hitting on 44.6 percent a year ago. Freshman Steve Frankowski, who played for coach Dan Hurley at St. Benedict's, is second on the team at 11.0 points per game while shooting 43.1 percent (22-51) from long range. Sophomore Brian Barbour rounds out the double-digit scorers at 10.3 points per game, highlighted by 91.2 percent (31-34) shooting from the charity stripe. Freshman Dyami Starks leads the team from beyond the arc, hitting on 51.4 percent (18-35) while seniors Brian Grimes (7.3 rpg) and Asenso Ampim (6.1 rpg) are the top rebounders.

COMMON OPPONENTS
Wagner and Columbia each defeated Stony Brook and lost to St. John's while the Seahawks beat Bucknell by five points just two days before the Bison bested the Lions by five points.

THE SERIES
Columbia leads the all-time series by an 11-4 count and have won four-straight over Wagner by an average of 16.5 points - including the last two at Levien Gym by an average of 21.5 points.

LAST MEETING
Columbia shot a blazing 60.7 percent (37-61) from the floor, including 59.3 percent (16-27) from long range, in a 102-91 romp over Wagner. The Lions led 54-29 at the break before a relentless full-court press allowed the Seahawks to make a second-half run. Junior Chris Martin scored a career-high 34 points, highlighted by a personal-best eight three pointers. Agho led the high-powered Columbia offense, scoring 30 points, on 11-of-16 shooting.

WITH A WIN ...
Wagner would improve to 5-1 against teams that defeated the Seahawks a year ago while matching its entire win total from 2009-2010.

IVY LEAGUE
Today's game is the first of two against teams from the Ivy League. Last year, Wagner went 0-3 against the Ancient Eight.

STAT OF THE WEEK
The Northeast Conference's stat of the week comes courtesy of the Green & White. Wagner is 4-1 in games decided by five points or less after going 3-8 in such games a year ago.

ALSO
The Seahawks are 3-3 on the road with all three wins coming by five points or less after going 2-11 away from the Spiro Sports Center a year ago.

RIVERS EARNS THIRD CHOICE HOTELS NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK ACCOLADE
Rivers earned his second-straight NEC accolade and the third of of the season after averaging 17.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game as the Wagner posted a 2-1 record on the road last week. He also hit 21-22 (.955) from the line to en-route to a pair of 20-point outings as Wagner bested Bucknell and Sacred Heart while coming up painstakingly short at St. John's.

MURRAY MAKES IT RAIN
Junior Tyler Murray has turned in arguably the finest season by a NEC player to date, leading the league in scoring at 18.7 points per game while pacing the Seahawks in rebounding (5.6 rpg) (15th NEC), assists (3.1 apg) (t-13th NEC), minutes played (37.9) (2nd NEC), three-point field-goal percentage (.486) (3rd NEC), defensive rebounds (5.1) (t-4th NEC), threes per game (2.4) (t-5th NEC) and field goal percentage (.477) (13th NEC) while ranking second on the team and third in the league in free throw percentage (.909).

MURRAY NOTCHES CAREER-HIGH
Junior Tyler Murray scored a career-high 23 points with a personal-best matching 10 rebounds over 40 huge minutes at Sacred Heart. The Canadian native was 7-of-12 from the floor, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the line while also drilling a three pointers and hitting a free throw with under a minute to go to force overtime. In the extra session, Murray hit a driving lay-up to push the Seahawks lead out to three with just 1:36 to play.

MURRAY'S BIG WEEK
Junior Tyler Murray had the best week by a Wagner student-athlete in recent memory, averaging a team-leading 20.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 50.0 percent (18-36) from the floor, including 42.9 percent (6-14) from beyond the arc, while knocking down 94.7 percent (18-19) from the charity stripe and notching his first two career double-doubles as the Seahawks went 2-1.

POST-GAME WAGNER-SHU NOTES
The game was the fourth in five meetings decided by five points or less with each team winning twice ... The Green & White last played in an overtime game on January 21, 2010, besting Long Island by a 65-59 count ... Wagner won its fourth game last year against Sacred Heart as well ... The only difference was that win came in the team's 23rd game on January 30 ... The Seahawks now 14-11, all-time, against the Pioneers and 17-13, all-time, in NEC-openers.

EXCLUSIVE COMPANY
Head coach Dan Hurley became the first Wagner coach in the program's 30-year Northeast Conference (NEC) history to win his first league game. P.J. Carlesimo (coach Hurley's collegiate coach at Seton Hall), Neil Kennett, Tim Capstraw, Dereck Whittenberg and Mike Deane all lost their NEC-debuts.

GOING FOR 1,000
Wagner will be going for the program's 1,000th win tonight against Columbia.

WAGNER WINS BATTLE OF FREE THROWS
For the first time all season Wagner converted more free throws than the opposition (26-24) but still managed to commit more fouls (27-26) for the seventh-straight game to open the season as the opposition has been in the double bonus in every half.

GOOD START
The victory over Sacred Heart was the first of 10 games schedule to be played on Saturday by far the most of any day on the schedule.

BUCKING THE TREND
The win over Sacred Heart was the first victory for Wagner when trailing with five minutes to go. The victory also came despite the fact the Seahawks shot a season-low 35.2 percent from the floor and a season-worst 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. The credit lies in the defensive game plan as the Green & White held the Pioneers to just 36.4 percent shooting, including 30.8 percent from deep. Wagner has now forced the opposition into shooting under 40 percent four times en route to leading the league in field goal percentage defense (.376).

RIVER AUTOMATIC
It took seven games but freshman Latif Rivers showed he was human from the charity stripe, missing his first career free throw at Sacred Heart. After splitting a pair with 5:40 to play, the freshman guard hit his final four to help spur the Seahawks to a come-from-behind overtime victory. Rivers finished up 9-for-10 from the line and has four games in which he has converted at least six free throws. As mentioned before he ranks second in the national rankings at 97.2 percent (35-36).

RIVERS EMERGING AS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE
Freshman Latif Rivers is emerging as a viable NEC Rookie of the Year candidate, leading all conference freshmen in scoring at 16.4 points per game while ranking sixth overall. Besides leading the league in free throw shooting, he is also second in three-point field goals converted (2.9) and ninth in three-point field-goal percentage (.435) and has three games of at least 20 points.

MURRAY, RIVERS COMBO LEADING THE WAY
Junior Tyler Murray and freshman Latif Rivers continue to rank as the top scoring duo in the NEC at an impressive 35.1 points per game. In the overtime win against Sacred Heart the pair combined for 44 points on 11-of-26 shooting, including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, and 15-of-17 from the free throw line. On the year, they are shooting 43.1 percent (72-167) from the floor, 45.7 percent (37-81) from beyond the arc and a blistering 94.2 percent (65-69) at the line.

T.J. MAKES PRESENCE FELT
Senior #T.J. Czeski# has made his presence felt since joining the basketball team at the conclusion of the football season. At Sacred Heart, Czeski grabbed a key offensive rebound in overtime with 18 seconds to play and Wagner up just two points.

KEY TO THE GAME
Defense. Wagner can shoot the ball from the perimeter but so can Columbia. The Seahawks will have to play solid defense against Kyle Smith's squad. Smith was the associate coach at St. Mary's College in the offense-oriented West Coast Conference where he helped the Gaels average at least 70 points over the last five years. Last year, his St. Mary's squad averaged over 78 points while winning 28 games en route to a Sweet 16 berth.

10-POINT GAMES
In games decided by 10 points or less, the Green & White is converting a remarkable 85.5 percent (106-124) from the free throw line.

REBOUNDING NOTE
After failing to win the battle of the boards over the first four games, Wagner managed to win the glass battle at Bucknell (+2) and at St. John's (+6), highlighted by a season-best 44 caroms against a much more athletic Red Storm squad. Despite that fact, the Seahawks rank last in the league and 304th nationally in rebounding margin (-5.4).

RAISING THE BAR
In the last five minutes of games, the Seahawks are shooting a solid 44.4 percent (8-18) from beyond the arc while holding the opposition to just 21.1 percent (4-19) in similar situations and have converted 83.0 percent (39-47) from the charity stripe.

SEAHAWKS ALMOST STUN ST. JOHN'S
While the Green & White lost a tough 69-61 decision to St. John's the game was not decided until the final minute as Wagner was within four points at the final media timeout. Junior Tyler Murray looked like the best player on the floor for most of the game, finishing with 21 points. The Seahawks defense limited the Red Storm to just 36.1 percent shooting, highlighted by a 3-of-19 stretch to start the game, and just 17.6 percent (3-17) from outside the arc. That marked the fourth time the Seahawks have held a team under the 20-percent mark from outside.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
“Wagner trailed by as many as 16 in the second half (at St. John's), but showed that there is another team on the rise in the outer boroughs.”
Howard Kussoy - New York Post

“If there is a team personality trait emerging in the early part of new coach Dan Hurley's first season at Wagner College, spunky might be the way to best describe it.”
Cormac Gordon - Staten Island Advance

“Dan Hurley coached as hard as he could on Wednesday night -- so hard, in fact, that he picked up the first technical foul of his college coaching career in the first half, for chewing on the refs' ears. His Wagner squad played hard for him, bouncing back from a 46-30 deficit early in the second half against St. John's to cut the lead to four, 62-58, with 4:33 to play.”
Kieran Darcy - ESPN

“I first just wanted to compliment Wagner. I thought they came in with a good game plan. They played more zone than they have at any point this season. They did an excellent job with tempo and played with poise. When we made runs, they came back and answered. Clearly, Dan Hurley and his brother, assistant coach Bobby Hurley, have done a nice job of building a team that doesn't have a lot of depth, but stays within striking distance with some timely shots, using the clock well and playing at different tempos. So I want to give them some credit.”
Steve Lavin - St. John's Head Basketball Coach

DAN HURLEY QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We didn't play well (at Sacred Heart), and we talked about the areas where we struggled,” said Hurley. “We have to get back to doing the things we do well.”

MURRAY LEADS THE WAY
Through the first seven games, junior Tyler Murray has shown the consistency that Dan Hurley and his staff were expecting out the Canadian native. Murray has paced the team in scoring four times while accruing at least 14 points in every game, highlighted by a career-high 23 points in the win over Sacred Heart. He also hit for 21 points in a win over Stony Brook before matching that total at St. John's (12/1). In the season-opening victory over Lafayette, he scored a team-best matching 18 points while twice quelling big Leopard runs, hitting all six free throws - including two with under a minute remaining - and adding a game-high six assists with five rebounds. Murray followed that up with an impressive 18 point effort at Lehigh. Then in the win over Stony Brook, he notched a career-high 21 points, highlighted by the go-ahead three pointer late in the second half.

FREE THROWS NOTE
Wagner is shooting 83.3 percent (65-78) from the line in the second half of games this year.

FREE THROWS NOTE PART 2
The Seahawks are connecting on 88.1 percent (74-84) from the line in its three victories, including 87.5 percent (49-56) after halftime in those games.

SETTING THE BELL CURVE
Wagner continues to pace the NEC in the early going from beyond the arc at 44.3 percent (47-106) success rate while holding the opposition to NEC-low 25.3 percent (19-75) shooting from long range.

LATE-GAME LEADERS
Wagner figures to be a formidable foe in close games this season due to its prowess at the line. The three guard attack of freshman Latif Rivers (35-26) (1st NEC), junior Tyler Murray (30-33) (3rd NEC) and Chris Martin (21-28) are shooting a remarkable 88.7 percent (86-97). In the last minute of games and overtime, Murray is 9-for-10 in the last minutes of games while Rivers is 6-for-6 as the Green & White have connected on 27-of-32 (84.4 %).

OTHER DEFENSIVE NOTES
While the Wagner defense wasn't as dominating against Hofstra as it was against Stony Brook it still turned in an impressive performance. The Seahawks held reigning CAA Player of the Year Charles Jenkins to 0-of-6 shooting and just two points in the opening half. For comparison's sake, Jenkins hit for 20 points, on 9-of-11 shooting, in the first half earlier this year against North Carolina.

THOMPSON TAKES FLIGHT
Sophomore Josh Thompson put his impressive on display at St. John's, scoring a season-high 12 points, on 6-of-12 shooting, with five rebounds and three assists. Entering the game, he had notched just five field goals and was shooting just 17.9 percent from the floor. He is now averaging 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.

MUNDY AIMING FOR BIG SOPHOMORE YEAR
Sophomore Danny Mundweiler has started the season strong, averaging 7.0 ppg off the bench while shooting 36.0 percent (9-25) from beyond the arc.

GOOD NEWS: GUARD PLAY ON DISPLAY
While most Wagner fans know that the team will be a guard-oriented offense, following in the footsteps of head coach Dan Hurley, himself a standout guard at Seton Hall, no one could have foreseen the guard play in the team's first two games. Guards Martin, Mundweiler, Murray and Rivers have shot 40.9 percent (99-242) from the floor, including 43.1 percent (56-130) from beyond the arc while accounting for 77.9 percent (352-452) of the team's scoring.

HITTING THE ROAD
Today's game will be the seventh of seven-straight games away from home. The road swing is the longest for the school since the 1992-1993 version of the Seahawks opened the year with a seven-game road trip ... The Green & White would love to replicate that team's success as Wagner went 18-12 en route to the NEC Championship Game.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTES
Included in the Seahawks 11-game non-conference schedule are four games against teams that won 20 games (@ Lehigh, @ Stony Brook, Princeton and @ Texas A&M) in 2009-2010, two games (@ Lehigh, @ Texas A&M) against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament and four games (@ Stony Brook (NIT), @ Hofstra (CBI), @ St. John's (NIT) and Princeton (CBI)) vs. teams that participated in other post-season tournaments. Additionally eight of the 11 teams posted winning records a year ago and the first four (Lafayette, @ Lehigh, @ Stony Brook and @ Hofstra) went a combined 82-49 with each winning at least 19 games a year ago.

FOUL TROUBLE
Wagner is averaging an astounding 6.4 more fouls than the opposition this season. On the year, the Green & White have committed 185 fouls while drawing just 140.

THE LAST TIME
Wagner began the conference season with a win was on January 3, 2009 when the Seahawks bested St. Francis (NY) by an 80-78 count in the Spiro Sports Center.

MUNDWEILERS CHASING THE HURLEYS
Sophomore Danny Mundweiler hit for seven points at Stony Brook and he and his brother Joey Mundweiler, a 1,000 point Wagner scorer, now have a combined 1,478 points. The duo have a way to go if they want to match another famous brother tandem in Dan Hurley and Bobby Hurley, as the Seahawk head and assistant coach notched a total of 2,801 points.
 
WAGNER PICKED TO FINISH 11TH IN THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Head coach Dan Hurley won't be short on motivation in this his first year at Wagner. In this the NEC's 30th season the league's 12 coaches predicted the new-look Wagner College Seahawks to finish 11th in the 12-team league.

After capturing its first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season crown a year ago, Quinnipiac was picked to win the 2010-2011 NEC men's basketball championship, based on voting conducted by the league's coaches.

Two-time defending NEC Tournament champion Robert Morris was tabbed second, followed by Long Island in third. Central Connecticut State was picked fourth, ahead of Mount St. Mary's in fifth and Fairleigh Dickinson in the sixth spot. St. Francis (NY) and Saint Francis (PA) tied for seventh in the poll, and were followed by Sacred Heart in ninth, Monmouth in 10th, Wagner in 11th and Bryant in 12th. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team.

HURLEY SIGNS TWO FOR NEXT SEASON
Wagner head coach Dan Hurley announced the signing of Marcus Burton (Matthews, NC / David W. Butler) and forward Mario Moody (Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) for the 2011-2012 academic year. Both student-athletes will be freshmen and have four years of eligibility.

A 6'0” point guard from North Carolina, Burton averaged 13.7 points and 4.5 assists per game at David W. Butler High School last season under the direction of Kurt Wessler while earning inclusion on the Southwestern 4A All-Conference team. A powerful point guard, Burton has outstanding ball handling skills and can shoot with consistency from beyond the arc.

Burton, who hit a game-winning 40-foot shot against Providence Day High School in a playoff game, led Butler to the school's fourth-straight Southwestern 4A Conference title a year ago. He also played AAU ball for the Charlotte Royals under the tutelage of Rod Seaford.

A 6'7” forward from New Jersey, Moody averaged 11.5 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game for East Orange Campus under the guidance of Daron Hoges. Last year as a junior, he helped the Jaguars to a 15-10 record and showcased his outstanding athleticism in a playoff game against Paterson East Side, blocking 12 shots.

Moody, who is an outstanding athlete who can play either the small or power forward position, played AAU ball last summer with Success University Team Izod under the direction of Brian Coleman and Ed Bright.

UP NEXT
Wagner returns home to face St. Peter's in the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday, December 17 at 7:00 pm.