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Dover, DE - Wagner will open its 92nd year of intercollegiate basketball and the first season of the Bashir Mason era tonight at 7:00 pm on the road at Delaware State with opening tip slated for 7:00 pm. Follow along on twitter and use the hash tag listed above to see men's basketball related tweets.

QUICK HITS
* While the Seahawks are opening the season, it will be the third game of the year for the Hornets, albeit their first against a Division I opponent. Delaware State is 2-0 following wins over Gwynedd-Mercy and Cairn, besting the schools by an average of 33.5 points per game.

* At 28 years and 278 days of age Mason (February 11, 1984) is the youngest coach in the Division I ranks, and the second-youngest in Wagner's Division I history. Only P.J. Carlesimo at 27 years and 183 days was younger for his first game on the sidelines for the Seahawks.

* Mason will be attempting to be the seventh coach (out of eight) to win his first game on the sidelines for Wagner (Division I era). The lone rookie coach to lose his opener was Mike Deane to Murray State by a 92-68 score on November 22, 2003. Mason helped Hurley and the Seahawks to a 63-58 victory over Lafayette on November 12, 2010 in the former Green & White mentor's first game.

* All-time, Wagner is 53-38 in season-openers, including going 21-16 in the Division I era (since 1976-1977).

* The Seahawks have won each of their last two openers, blowing out Princeton by a 73-57 score on the road last season after posting a 63-58 victory over Lafayette in the Spiro Sports Center in 2010-2011.

* Wagner, Northern Kentucky and South Dakota all open play on Wednesday, November 14, tying for the second-latest opening by a Division I school this season. The last school to begin play is James Madison, which will tip off on Thursday, November 15 at UCLA.

* The Seahawks will be looking for their second-straight win over Delaware State, after posting a decisive 85-62 victory over the Hornets a year ago in the Spiro Sports Center. In that game, senior Jonathon Williams led four double-digit scorers with 19 points and 10 rebounds in collecting his first career double-double. The Green & White jumped out to a 49-32 lead at the half, before coasting to the win. Junior Latif Rivers added 16 points, while senior Josh Thompson chipped in with 11 points.

* For Delaware State, eventual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year Tahj Tate led the way for the visitors with 17 points, while senior Marques Oliver added 15 points and eight rebounds.

* The Hornets lead the all-time series by a 4-2 count as the teams renewed their rivalry last season following an eight-year hiatus.

* Wagner is 10-6, all-time, against the MEAC and has won four-straight against the conference.

* The Seahawks went 2-0 against the MEAC a year ago, also defeating NCCU 87-83 in the Spiro Sports Center.

* Williams feasted on the MEAC competition a year ago, averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting a blistering 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the floor, including 57.1 percent (4-for-7) from long range. Rivers also averaged 15.0 points game, while junior Kenneth Ortiz checked in with 5.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. As a team, Wagner shot 47.9 percent from the floor, 43.6 percent from long range and 80.4 percent from the line en route to averaging 86.0 points per game against Delaware State and NCCU.

* The game will also be the first of three this season for the Seahawks against the MEAC, as the Green & White head to NCCU on Saturday, November 24, before hosting Coppin State on Saturday, December 15.

* Wagner will play a grueling 11-game non-conference schedule, featuring eight games in five different states away from the Spiro Sports Center.

* The Seahawks return four starters and 74.4 percent of their scoring and 84.2 percent of their rebounding from last year's team that won a school-best 25 games, including a school-record matching 15 NEC victories.

* Included in last year's record-breaking season was a NEC-leading 17 double-digits wins, which matched Carlesimo's 1978-1979 team for the most in school history.

* Additionally, the Green & White posted a Northeast Conference (NEC) record nine non-conference victories (9-2), with the only losses coming to eventual NCAA Tournament participants No. 4 UConn and Lehigh.

* Wagner also recorded a NCAA-leading 12 true road victories a year ago, including a 4-1 mark during non-conference play that was highlighted by a 59-54 win at No. 15 Pitt.

* The Seahawks enter this year with a 10-2 record over their last 12 non-conference games.

* Did You Know? ... That Wagner set a record as the quickest NEC team to 20 wins a year ago (February 8, 2012) and was the only league team to not lose back-to-back games.

* The Seahawks return four starters - Junior Naofall Folahan, Ortiz, Rivers and Williams - from last year's team and were recently slated to finish third in the NEC behind two-time defending Champion LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris.

* Leading the returners is the guard duo of Ortiz and Rivers ... Ortiz earned NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago, after averaging 1.8 steals (3rd NEC) and 4.5 rebounds per game to go along with averages of 8.1 points and 4.3 assists (5th NEC) each time out. Rivers, meanwhile, was named to the All-NEC Second Team, after averaging a team-best 14.6 points (12th NEC) per game. The Garden State native also shot a blistering 88.4 percent from the line and 35.1 percent from long range.

* For his career, Rivers ranks third among the school annals in free throw percentage (.888), while Folahan has 97 blocks, just eight off sixth place.

* In the preseason, Ortiz was cited as the NEC's best defender by Lindy's Magazine and Yahoo! Sports!, while also being named as one of the top 30 defenders in the Division I ranks by CBS Sports. Rivers, who was a preseason Second Team All-NEC pick by Lindy's Magazine and Mid-Major Madness, enters his third campaign as the sixth leading returning scorer in the NEC and has accrued 868 points (14.2 ppg) over his two seasons on Grymes Hill.

* Rounding out the returning starters is Williams and Folahan. Williams averaged 13.4 points (15th NEC) and a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 53.4 percent (9th NEC) from the floor. Folahan, meanwhile, led the conference with 1.7 blocks per game while starting 59 games over the last two years

* The Green & White was ranked as the 20th among Mid-Major teams by Mid-Major Madness and 25th by the Bleacher Report.

* Wagner leads the NEC and ranks 11th in the nation in winning percentage (.806) while also pacing the league in turnover margin (+3.9) (11th NCAA), scoring margin (+9.1) (37th NCAA), blocked shots (4.1) (84th NCAA) and field goal percentage defense (.408) (48th). The Seahawks were second in the league in three point field goal percentage defense (.309) (36th NCAA), scoring offense (73.4 ppg) (50th NEC) and scoring defense (64.3 ppg) (96th NCAA). The Green & White are also among the top-100 in steals per game (7.9) (53rd NCAA) and three point field goal percentage (.360) (88th NCAA).

MASON MAKES COACHING DEBUT
Just five years after his final collegiate game as a player and just four years removed from his first game as a collegiate assistant coach, Bashir Mason will begin his collegiate head coaching career against Delaware State on Wednesday, November 14 at Memorial Hall.

LISTEN LIVE
Follow tonight's game via a free online feed from Red Zone Media with Joey Wahler providing the action, which can be accessed via the Wagner Athletics website. That free link can be found by clicking HERE

YOUNGEST IN THE NATION
Mason begins his career as the youngest head coach in the America at 28 years and 278 days, with UNC Greensboro's Wes Miller second at 29 years and 292 days.

OF NOTE
Every member of the Delaware State coaching staff had graduated college before Mason was born ... Mason will lock horns with the second-oldest coach in America this year when he squares off with SMU head coach Larry Brown, who is 72 years old, on Friday, December 21 in the Cable Car Classic ... Mason will also match up with nine coaches that are over 50 years of age ... Conversely, he will coach against eight in their 30s, including Jamion Christian (30 - Mount St. Mary's), Andy Toole (32 - Robert Morris) and Rob Krimmel (35 - Saint Francis (PA)) from the NEC.

DELAWARE STATE
Opposing Mason on the sidelines will be 13th-year coach Greg Jackson of Delaware State. Jackson enters the game with a 143-143 record and helped the Hornets to the 2005 MEAC Championship.

CONTINUITY
The fact that Jackson has been with Delaware State for the last 13 years is not that unusual. What is unusual is that all three of his assistant coaches have been with him for each one of those 13 seasons.

THE MATCH-UP
While the Seahawks are opening up their season, the Hornets will be looking for their third-straight victory to start the year and a measure of revenge. A year ago in the Spiro Sports Center, Wagner posted an impressive 85-62 win over Delaware State, which included a game-changing 21-5 run over 6:46 of the first half.

SCOUTING DELAWARE STATE
The Hornets are 2-0, having posted wins over Non-Division I schools Gwynedd-Mercy (74-56) and Cairn (95-46). Delaware State is averaging 84.5 points per game and was picked to finish second in the MEAC, after recording a 12-4 conference mark a year ago.

TRIPLE THREAT
The Hornets are led by the trio of Tahj Tate, Casey Walker and Marques Oliver - all of whom notched double-figures in scoring a year ago and received preseason All-MEAC recognition.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY
Wagner will be searching for its first-ever win on November 14, having lost its previous five games on the date.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT BLISS
Tonight's game is the first of three Wednesday night affairs for the Seahawks. A year ago, the Green & White went a perfect 2-0 on Wednesdays, after going 0-2 in 2010-2011.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
One year after putting together an impressive 13-3 record away from home, Wagner will look to continue its success away from the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center starting with tonight's opener. The Seahawks will play six-of-seven on the road to start the year, including each of the first three games.

MR. ESPN
For the second-straight year, senior Josh Thompson cracked ESPN's Top-10 Highlights for his dunking exploits during the Green & White's Second annual Madness Before Midnight event. Thompson, who garnered the No. 1 ranking a year ago for a dunk over his mom, was slated No. 2 this season after dunking over both of his parents.

JOINING THE PARTY
Also making an appearance on ESPN's Top-10 highlights was freshman Dwaun Anderson, who cracked the rankings at No. 6 for his impressive slam. The two Top-10 nods give Wagner four over the last year.

SLOW START FOR NEC
Over the first few days of the college basketball season, the NEC has posted just six wins. Every team has lost at least once.

AP
Wagner received a vote in the Associated Press poll last year for the first time in school history, earning one vote in four-straight polls.

RIVERS LETHAL FROM THE LINE
Rivers has recorded the top two single-season marks at the line in school history, as his 89.1 percent mark from a year ago ranks first and this year's average of 88.1 percent is second.

1,000-POINT CLUB
Rivers has 868 points (14.2 ppg) and is just 132 points away from becoming the 40th member of the Wagner 1,000-point club. Over his first two years on campus, the Garden State native has recorded 10 career 20-point games, with the Seahawks going 9-1 in those games.

ORTIZ MAKES PRESENCE FELT
In his first season on Staten Island, Ortiz has filled up the stat sheets, averaging 8.1 points per game while recording 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists (5th NEC), and 1.8 steals (3rd NEC) per game in becoming the Green & White's fourth NEC Defensive Player of the Year.

MR. CLUTCH
Ortiz also established himself as one of the NEC's top point guards and one of the most clutch players in the NCAA ranks, having delivered three game-winning shots. His free throw at Quinnipiac, provided the difference in a one-point victory over the Bobcats, after hitting an improbable shot from the left corner as the buzzer sounded to give the Wagner a win over Santa Clara and the Cable Car Classic Championship. His first game-winner came when he sank the deciding free throws at NCCU.

BLOCK PARTY
Folahan blocked a NEC-leading 1.7 shots per game en route to recording 52 for the year, a mark that ranks fifth in the S,eahawks' single-season annals. Over his two-year career, he is sixth with 97 rejections.

WAGNER GARNERS NATIONAL EXPOSURE ... AGAIN
For the second-straight year Wagner will host LIU Brooklyn on ESPNU, as the teams will tangle on “The U” on February 24 at 8:00 pm. Additionally, the Seahawks' game against Mount St. Mary's on February 6 will be broadcast regionally on Fox College Sports (FCS) and online at ESPN3.

WAHLER TO AGAIN SERVE AS OFFICIAL VOICE OF WAGNER BASKETBALL
Wagner head basketball coach Bashir Mason has announced that WFAN Update Anchor and News 12 New Jersey Sports Anchor/Reporter Joey Wahler will return for his second season as the official voice of all Seahawk broadcasts for the 2011-2012 season. During the home portion of the schedule, Wahler will broadcast all 10 games that are slated to be streamed via the Northeast Conference's (NEC) Front Row Platform. For all 17 road games a straight audio broadcast can be accessed by listeners for free thanks to an agreement with Red Zone Media.

2003 TEAM TO BE HONORED
The 2012-2013 season also marks the 10th anniversary of the Seahawks' only NEC Basketball Championship. The history-making squad will be honored when the Green & White host the aforementioned Blackbirds.

DID YOU KNOW?
That both the Green & White men's and women's basketball programs have new coaches in the same season for the first time since the 1976-1977 campaign. Mason was promoted after Dan Hurley left for a similar position at Rhode Island, while Lisa Cermignano replaced the retiring Gela Mikalauskas.

WAGNER TABBED THIRD IN NEC PRESEASON POLL
Wagner was selected to finish third in the annual NEC men's basketball preseason poll, as voted on by the league's 12 head coaches, the league office announced at the inaugural NEC “Social” Media Day. Last year, the Seahawks finished second in the regular season and won a school-record 25 games, including a 59-54 victory over No. 15 Pitt. LIU Brooklyn, which earned nine first place votes, was selected to win its third-straight league title after claiming each of the last two titles. Robert Morris, which has appeared in each of the last four NEC Championship Games, was tabbed to finish second, followed by the Seahawks in third. Quinnipiac was selected abbed fourth, followed by St. Francis (NY) in fifth. Sacred Heart was picked sixth, followed by Monmouth in seventh and Central Connecticut in eighth. Rounding out the poll was Mount St. Mary's, Bryant, Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis (PA).

WAGNER, MASON WELCOMES THREE TO THE FOLD
The Green & White welcome the freshman trio of Anderson, Langston Burnett and Eric Fanning to Grymes Hill for the 2012-2013 season. A National Top-100 recruit, Anderson was the state of Michigan's 2011 Mr. Basketball. While technically a freshman, Anderson enrolled Wagner this past January and practiced with the team for the second half of the 2011-2012 season. Burnett and Fanning, like Anderson, have four years of eligibility remaining and comprise Mason's first recruiting class. Burnett played his prep basketball at St. Vincent Pallotti High School, averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds per game. Fanning arrives on Grymes Hill following a pair of outstanding seasons at the Perkiomen School (PA), where as a senior he averaged 20.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in leading the Panthers to a 25-3 record. Prior to enrolling at Wagner, Fanning earned MVP honors at the prestigious 2012 Mary Kline Classic, scoring 30 points in helping the Blue Team to a 126-111 win over the Red Team in the Senior All-Star Game.

HOMECOMING OF SORTS
Burnett's sister Keyanna Burnett is in her second season as a starter for the Delaware State women's team.

HARRIS TO REDSHIRT THIS YEAR
Junior Jay Harris will sit out this season after transferring from Valparaiso. A year ago, the smooth-shooting Harris averaged 9.0 points per game off the bench, while helping the Crusaders to the Horizon League Regular Season Championship. Beginning with the 2013-2014 season, Harris will have two years of eligibility remaining.

MASON ANNOUNCES FIRST STAFF
Mason will be joined on the bench by Mike Babul, Marquis Webb, Scott Smith, Andrew Duffy and Dwayne Lee. Babul comes to Wagner from Auburn, where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations for the last two years. The former UMass standout and Parade All-American also worked at UTEP, Drexel, Youngtown State and Memphis. Webb descends on Staten Island after spending a year at George Mason, where he helped the Patriots to 24 wins in 2011-2012. A 1,000-point scorer at Rutgers, he ranks 10th all-time in the Scarlet Knight record book with 305 career assists. Smith is in his second season as an assistant coach with the Seahawks and the third overall as a member of the staff. Duffy begins his first season as the Director of Operations after serving as the graduate manager the last two seasons. The duo helped Mason guide the Green & White to 38 wins over the last two years. Lee begins his collegiate coaching career on Grymes Hill after a standout four-year playing career at Saint Joseph's, where he helped the Hawks to the Elite 8 in 2004.

DID YOU KNOW?
That all Mason, Babul, Webb and Lee all garnered All-Conference Defensive Team honors during their collegiate careers. Mason was recognized as the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman and was a four-year member of the CAA All-Defensive Team. Babul was a three-year selection to the Atlantic 10 (A-10) All-Defensive Team. Webb was named to the 2006 Defensive All America team, while Lee earned Atlantic 10 honors of hiw own as a junior following the 2004-2005 season.

UP NEXT
Wagner will venture to No. 9 Syracuse on Sunday, November 18 for a 1:00 pm match-up in a game that will be televised live regionally by SNY.

FOLLOW ON TWITTER
Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and @bashirmason to follow the Seahawks' first-year head coach.

Photography By Dave Saffran