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Penn	Roster	Schedule	Notes
Wagner	Roster	Schedule	Notes

Staten Island, NY - After playing eight of its first 10 games away from the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center, Wagner (5-5) returns to Staten Island for a non-conference tilt today at 4:00 pm against Penn (2-8). The match-up is the second-ever game between the teams as the Seahawks defeated the Quakers by a 71-65 count on November 22, 2011 in Philadelphia.

* The Seahawks will look to get back in the win column after seeing their three-game winning streak snapped by Santa Clara in the Championship Game of the 46th annual Cable Car Classic.
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* Over the last two years, the Green & White is 7-1 following a loss and has dropped back-to-back games just one time.

* Despite being denied its second-straight Cable Car title and just its third-ever in-season tournament title, senior forward Jonathon Williams earned his second-straight All-Tournament accolade, averaging a team-best 8.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

* In the teams' previous match-up, junior Latif Rivers led the way for the Seahawks with a team-best 18 points. Tyler Murray (14) and Chris Martin (11) also added double-figures as the Green & White was able to withstand a game-high 23 points from eventual Ivy League Player of the Year Zack Rosen. For the entire release click HERE

* Rosen, who was coached by Bashir Mason in high school, worked out the in the Spiro Sports Center this past summer and is currently playing for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Super League.

* Rivers' cousin Ibrahim Jabbar played for the Quakers and earned 2007 Ivy League Player of the Year accolades. Jabbar, like Rosen, worked out in the Spiro Sports Center this past summer. Jabbar plays for Žalgiris Kaunas in the VTB United League. Additionally, Penn head coach Jerome Allen was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and played for the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets.

* With a victory today, Wagner would close out the non-conference portion with a winning record for the second-straight year and the fifth time in the last eight seasons.

* The Seahawks have won three-straight games against the Ivy and are looking to sweep the season series from Penn and Princeton for the second-straight year.

* All-time, Wagner is 21-24 against the “Ancient Eight,” including going 19-20 since moving to Division I in 1976-1977. At home, the Seahawks are 10-6 against the Ivy League during the D-1 era.

* Wagner is a perfect 2-0 at home this season and 14-3 on Grymes Hill since the start of last season. The Seahawks are also 7-3 at home during non-conference play since the beginning of the 2010-2011 season.

* Williams has been unstoppable this season at the Spiro Sports Center, averaging 26.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game while shooting a blistering 69.0 percent (20-for-29) from the line and 80.0 percent (12-for-15) from the line.

* This season, the NEC is 5-2 against the Ivy with a pair of games on the docket this weekend (Cornell at Saint Francis (PA) / Penn at Wagner).

* One of the three officials for today's game is Lionel Butler, who officiated last year's game between the teams.

* Williams continues to lead the Seahawks in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), ranking seventh and third in the NEC, respectively. He also ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.548) and fifth in free throw percentage (.826) while pacing the team in scoring and rebounding eight times this year.

* Over the last five minutes of the Green & White's games this season, Williams is shooting 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the floor and 87.5 percent (14-of-16) from the line, while the rest of his teammates are converting on just 33.3 percent (21-of-63) from the floor and 61.0 percent (36-of-59) from the line.

* Reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year Kenneth Ortiz, like Williams, had a solid Cable Car Classic, averaging 8.5 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. After halftime, the Newark native is averaging 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the floor. On the year, Ortiz ranks among the league leaders with 9.3 points (30th NEC), 4.0 assists (t-6th NEC) and 2.0 steals (t-5th NEC) per game.

* As a unit, Wagner has notched at least 30 points after halftime in seven of its first 10 games while failing to hit for 30 in the opening stanza yet this season.

* The Seahawks are also shooting 43.2 percent from the floor after halftime while averaging 31.8 points per game and posting a +2.1 scoring margin and a + 4.7 rebounding margin.

* In the opening half, the Green & White is converting on 33.9 percent while averaging just 23.0 points per game and has recorded a -6.7 scoring margin and a -2.1 rebounding margin. 

* Wagner, which has scored over 70 points in just one game, is going against a Penn defense that has allowed the opposition to notch at least 70 points in five of its 10 games.

* The Seahawks ranks 15th nationally with 5.7 blocks per game thanks to the shot-blocking duo of junior Naofall Folahan (2.1 bpg) and sophomore Mario Moody (1.9 bpg). Folahan (21) and Moody (19) have combined for 40 blocks, which is more than every NEC team except LIU Brooklyn (44). Additionally, each player has more rejections then the collective totals of Saint Francis (PA) (17), Monmouth (17), Mount St. Mary's (15) and Bryant (12).

* Folahan scored six points and six rebounds while blocking one shot at Santa Clara. His rejection moves Folahan into a tie with Durell Vinson (118) for fourth place on the all-time Wagner rankings. He is also now just six blocks away from 2003 NEC Player of the Year Jermaine Hall's total of 124.

* On the year, Folahan is also averaging 3.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while Moody checks in with 5.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The duo's inside presence is also a major reason why the Seahawks continue to lead NEC field goal percentage defense (.382) and scoring defense (60.6 ppg), while ranking 38th and 69th, respectively, in the D-1 ranks.

* Sophomore Marcus Burton led the Seahawks in scoring for the first time in his short career with 10 points. He has now notched double-figures three times this season and six times in two years. Burton, who recently scored a career-high 17 points in the win over Coppin State, is fourth on the team in scoring (6.6 ppg).

* The Green & White lost the battle of the boards for just the second time this season by a 38-33 margin at Santa Clara, but will be going against a Penn team that is being outrebounded by an average of -6.9 rebounds per game. Wagner continues to rank second in the NEC with a +3.5 rebounding margin.

* Over the last two years, the Seahawks are 29-1 when leading with five minutes to play.

* The Green & White has trailed at the half in nine of its 10 games after doing so just eight times a year ago.

* Former Seahawk head coach P.J. Carlesimo was recently named as the interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets and ushered the Seahawks into the Division I era in the 1976-1977 season and coached for six years. He is also the youngest-ever coach of the Green & White basketball program in the D-1 era, having coached his first game at 27 years and 183 days.

* Carlesimo is one of two former Wagner head coaches to coach at the professional level, joining former New York Giant coach Jimmy Lee Howell, who coached the Seahawks from 1947-1953.

SETTING THE SCENE
Wagner concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a game against Penn on today at 4:00 pm.

WATCH LIVE
A free video stream of the Penn game can be watched online for free through NEC Front Row and can be accessed via the Wagner Athletics website. WFAN Update Anchor Joey Wahler will have the call.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Eight of the Seahawks' 10 games have been decided by less than 10 points or in overtime.

WILLIAMS NAMED NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Williams became the first Green & White player to earn Choice Hotels/Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week accolades this season after notching 33 points and 17 rebounds in a 77-65 overtime victory against Coppin State. Williams also recorded just the seventh 30-point/15-rebound game by a NEC player in the last 16 years. His performance was cited by ESPN.Com on the website's weekly Pick'N'Roll feature. Click HERE to watch highlights of Williams' performance.

THE MOST SINCE ...
Williams' 33 points and 17 rebounds were the most by a Wagner player since Martin notched 34 points against Columbia on December 8, 2009 and Vinson recorded 17 caroms against Saint Francis (PA) on February 21, 2008. Additionally, Williams nearly recorded a double-double (22 points/9 rebounds) in the second half alone.

INTERESTING
Williams also shot 13-of-18 from the floor in his aforementioned performance against the Eagles. As a unit, the Seahawks made good on just 11 field goals in their victory at North Carolina Central (NCCU).

SETTING THE TABLE
Helping fuel Williams' big game and a career-high 17-point performance from Burton was Ortiz, who recorded a career-high eight assists.

THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY
Wagner busted off runs of 17-0, 15-0, 15-2 and 18-0 in its last two wins over Coppin State and SMU.

LUCKY NUMBER 70
The Seahawks are 20-1 over the last two years when scoring at least 70 points.

MASON TOPPLES BROWN
In the Green & White's win over the Mustangs, the 28-year old Mason bested the 72-year old Brown, who is in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Brown, who is the nation's second-oldest coach, is one of four senior citizens that Mason, the nation's youngest coach, will face this year.

CELEBRATING IN STYLE
Senior Josh Thompson celebrated his 23rd birthday with a season-best eight points against SMU while going 2-for-2 from the floor after starting the season just 2-for-20.

BENCH BIG IN WIN OVER SMU
Against the Mustangs, the Green & White second unit outscored its counterparts by a 30-3 count and was led by 11 points from freshman Eric Fanning and six points, seven rebounds and a career-high six blocks from Moody. Over the last five games, the Wagner reserves are averaging 27.2 points per game while shooting 45.8 percent (49-for-107) from the floor. In the first five games the Seahawk bench averaged just 14.2 points per game.

MOODY LEADING THE BENCH
Over the last five games, Moody has been absolute force averaging 8.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the floor.

A NIGHT OF FIRSTS
Wagner's win over SMU was the Seahawks' first-ever against a current member of Conference USA (C-USA) (1-3) and its first-ever against a team from Texas (1-2).

DID YOU KNOW?
The NEC is 2-0 against the C-USA this season as LIU Brooklyn also defeated Rice.

TRADING PLACES
The game against the Mustangs is one of six that the Seahawks will play against teams that are switching conference affiliations next season. Syracuse (Big East - ACC), Temple (A-10 - Big East), SMU (C-USA - Big East), Monmouth (2x) (NEC - MAAC) and Quinnipiac (NEC - MAAC).

THE COACHES
Mason is 5-5 while Allen is 41-51 in this his fourth year at Penn. Both coaches played their collegiate basketball in the City of Brotherly Love.

YOUNGEST IN THE NATION
Mason is the youngest head coach in America at 28 years and 323 days, with UNC Greensboro's Wes Miller second at 29 years and 337 days. The two are the only coaches in the D-1 ranks under the age of 30.

WILLIAMS LEADING THE WAY
In 40 career games over two years with Wagner, Williams has paced the team in scoring 19 times and in rebounding on 20 occasions. The California native has notched 560 points (14.0 ppg) and 226 rebounds (5.7 rpg) during his time on Grymes Hill.

STATE OF MIND
The Seahawks have defeated teams from five different states (MD, NC, NJ, NY, TX) this year and would make it six with a win over Penn (PA).

NOT TOO SHABBY
Wagner's five losses have come against teams (Delaware State, Syracuse, Albany, Temple, Santa Clara) with a combined 44-15 record.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY
In the Division I era (since 1976-1977), Wagner is just 5-9 when playing on December 29th, but has won three of its last four games on the date.

SENAT SIGNS
Mason has announced the signing of Marianapolis Prep forward Greg Senat to a National Letter of Intent for the 2013-2014 season. The 6-8, 225-pound Senat is Mason's first recruit for next season.

1,000-POINT CLUB
Rivers has 883 career points (14.2 ppg) and is just 117 points away from becoming the 40th member of the Wagner 1,000-point club. Over his first three years, the Garden State native has recorded 10 career 20-point games (Seahawks 9-1).

DIVISION I HISTORY/LATE START
Since moving to the Division I ranks in 1976-1977, Wagner is 478-563 while the Seahawks' November 14th start date was tied for the second-latest season debut by a Division I team this season.

HARRIS TO REDSHIRT THIS YEAR
Junior Jay Harris will sit out this season after transferring from Valparaiso and beginning in 2013-2014 will have two years of eligibility remaining. 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 Title.

Up Next
Wagner hosts Monmouth on Thursday, January 3 at 7:00 pm in the NEC opener for both teams.

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.