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Sacred Heart	Roster	Schedule	Notes
Wagner	Roster	Schedule	Notes

Staten Island, NY - Winners of two straight, Wagner (11-8; 5-3 NEC) returns home on Thurday at 7:00 pm to face a red-hot Sacred Heart (8-11; 6-2 NEC) squad that has won three straight en route to ascending to a three-way tie for first in the conference. Tomorrow's match-up will also feature the annual "Domino's 10K Shot," as one lucky fan will have the opportunity to win $10,000 on a half-court shot. For more information click HERE. The game will be streamed free of charge through NEC Front Row with WFAN Update Anchor Joey Wahler providing the call.

QUICK HITS
* The Seahawks are 5-1 at home this season and 17-4 over the last two seasons, including posting an 11-3 mark against NEC opposition.

* Freshman Eric Fanning became the first member of the Green & White to capture a Choice Hotels/NEC Rookie of the Week citation this year after averaging a team-best 13.5 points and 6.0 rebounds over a pair of road wins last week. For the full release click HERE.

* Wagner won the teams' lone meeting a year ago by a 73-54 count in Fairfield a year ago and are 15-12, all-time, against Sacred Heart, including posting a 15-10 mark since the Seahawks moved to Division I for the 1976-1977 season.

* At home, the Green & White hold a commanding 8-5 advantage over the Pioneers, including going 8-4 at the Spiro Sports Center.

* Sacred Heart has captured three of the last four meetings on Staten Island, highlighted by a 55-49 victory in the NEC Semifinals on March 9, 2008.

* The last nine match-ups have between the teams at the Spiro Sports Center have been decided by 10 points or less, with Wagner going 5-4 during that time.

* In last year's 19-point win, the Seahawks shot a blistering 52.4 percent from long range while placing four in double-figures. The Pioneers, meanwhile, was led by Shane Gibson, who notched a team-high 20 points.

* Two years ago, Gibson accrued 34 points, on 12-of-15 shooting - including going 4-of-7 from long range - in lifting the Sacred Heart to a 79-76 win in the teams' last meeting at the Spiro Sports Center.

* Over his last three games against the Green & White, Gibson is averaging 23.7 points per game while shooting 50.0 percent (25-for-50) from the field, but just 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from long range.

* During that same period, junior Latif Rivers is averaging 16.7 points per game against Pioneers.

* Gibson joins Fanning on the NEC honor roll this week after recording his seventh career Choice Hotels/NEC Player of the Week accolade. The reigning First Team All-NEC pick averaged 29.5 points per game over wins against Bryant and Monmouth. He has notched at least 20 points in each one of Sacred Heart's seven conference games. On the year, Gibson is second in the league in scoring (20.1), first in free throw percentage (.889), second in made three-pointers (2.8/game) and fifth in three-point percentage (.422).

* During NEC-play, Gibson is averaging a league-leading 25.4 points per game while shooting 44.8 percent (26-for-58) from long range while averaging 3.3 per game.

* As a unit, Wagner is shooting just 32.7 percent (33-for-101) from long range with 4.1 per game during that time.

* Head coach Bashir Mason became the quickest coach in Seahawks' Division I history (since 1976-1977) to reach 10 victories and is now just two wins shy of the school-record (13) for wins by a Green & White rookie coach during that time.

* Mason, who is now the lone NCAA D-1 coach under the age of 30, improved to a perfect 3-0 against first-year NEC coaches after besting Jamion Christian (Mount) and Rob Krimmel (Saint Francis U) last week.

* The first-year Green & White coach will be opposed by Sacred Heart's Dave Bike, is 528-490 in this his 35th year in Fairfield. Bike is also the second-longest tenured coach in the nation, behind just 37th-year head man Jim Boeheim of Syracuse.

* Mason is the nation's youngest coach at 28 years and 355 days while Bike is the 14th oldest at 65 years and 224 days. This season, Mason has competed against three of the nation's 10 oldest coaches, going 1-2 against them.

* Wagner is the NEC's highest ranked team according to the RPI at 141 while Sacred Heart is fourth at 182.

* Thanks to his aforementioned rookie of the week citation, Fanning became the first Seahawk to garner NEC rookie accolades since Rivers notched his school-record sixth on February 7, 2011.

* Over his last four games, Fanning has recorded double-figures in scoring each time out and is averaging a team-best 13.2 points per game while shooting 55.3 percent (21-for-38) from the floor and 40.0 percent (4-for-10) from the line.

* The Seahawks posted their largest margin of victory (+25) of the year against the Red Flash, which is the Green & White's biggest win since defeating St. Francis Brooklyn by 40 points on December 3, 2011. To see the highlights click HERE.

* Wagner's stout defense limited both opponents last week to less than 60 points as the Seahawks improve to 8-0 this season and 18-0 over the last two seasons when keeping teams under that scoring threshold.

* The Seahawks also scored 80 points or more for just the second time this season against Saint Francis U and are 3-0 this year and 22-1 over the last two seasons when recording 70 points or more.

* Led by senior Jonathon Williams' game-high 19 points, the Green & White placed five players in double-figures for the first time this season against the Red Flash. Williams also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and has paced the squad in scoring 10 times and on the glass 11 times, both of which are team-highs.

* Junior Orlando Parker scored 14 points, on 6-of-7 shooting, against Saint Francis U while notching double-figures in scoring for the second-straight game after failing to do so once in Wagner's first 17 games. The Sunshine State native also pulled down seven rebounds, on the heels of a 12-point performance at the Mount.

* Against the Red Flash, Parker drew his first start since December 6, 2011 against Hofstra and was the 10th different Seahawk to start a game this season as the Green & White have employed 10 different starting line-ups.

* Junior Kenneth Ortiz and Rivers each scored 10 points, with Ortiz recording double-figures for the 10th time this season and Rivers the 51st time his 71-game career. Rivers is also just 34 points away from becoming the 40th member of the school's 1,000-point club.

* Thanks the aforementioned performances, Wagner made more then half of its shots for the third time this season, converting on 57.6 percent in the win over Saint Francis U.

* The Seahawks continue to lead the NEC and rank among the NCAA leaders in scoring defense (62.5) (87th NCAA), field goal percentage defense (.396) (57th NCAA) and blocked shots (5.2) (27th NCAA), The Green & White also lead the league in rebounding defense (32.7) and defensive rebounds (26.2) and rank 48th nationally with a +5.2 rebounding margin.

* Leading the way for Wagner is Williams, who is leading the way in scoring (14.5 ppg) (10th NEC), rebounding (7.3 rpg) (8th NEC), field goal percentage (.513) (7th NEC) and free throw percentage (.781) (9th NEC).

* Ortiz also ranks among the league leaders in multiple categories, ranking among the NEC's best in scoring (11.0 ppg) (21st NEC), assists (4.8 apg) (4th NEC) and steals (1.8 spg) (t-4th NEC).

* Junior Naofall Folahan (1.9 bpg) and sophomore Mario Moody (1.6 bpg) continue to continue to rank as the league's top two shot blockers.

* The Seahawks are 7-4 when playing on January 31st since moving to D-I for the 1976-1977 season.

TIGHT AT THE TOP
Four weeks into conference play, there are five teams within one game of each other in the ultra-competitive NEC. Sacred Heart, which went just 2-9 during non-conference play, is tied with Bryant and Robert Morris for first place while Wagner and LIU Brooklyn sit in a fourth-place tie with 5-3 conference ledgers.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
In the Seahawks' 52-50 victory over the Mount, the Green & White reserves outscored the starters by a 28-24, marking the first time in 86 games that the second unit notched more points then the starters. Coincidently, the last time it occurred was also in Emmitsburg on February 4, 2010.

STRANGE BUT TRUE
Additionally, in the win at the Mount no starter for either team scored in double-figures.

HOME COOKING
Wagner will play each of its next three games and five-of-six at home.

THREE'S COMPANY
With a win tonight, the Seahawks will have notched their third three-game streak during NEC play. The Green & White began league play with a three-game winning streak, before losing three-straight games. Wagner then followed that up with a pair of victories last week.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
Thanks to the play of Williams (7.3 rpg), Moody (6.1 rpg) and Parker (4.6 rpg), the Seahawks rank second in the NEC with a +5.2 rebounding margin and are 11-4 when winning the battle of the boards this season. During league play, the Green & White has posted a season-best +13 rebounding margin in three of its conference games.

CLUTCH
Ortiz delivered his third game-winning shot in the last two years with a fast break layup off a steal with 27.4 seconds remaining at the Mount.

MOVING ON UP
Folahan recorded his 129th career block against the Mountaineers, leaving him just six behind Miladin Mutavdzic for second place on the all-time Wagner rankings.

THE CLOSER
Williams is shooting 60.7 percent (17-for-28) from the field over the last five minutes of games with the rest of the Seahawks converting on just 39.8 percent (47-for-118).

TALE OF TWO HALVES
Wagner is averaging 32.9 points per game in the second half on 44.4 percent shooting from the floor, compared to just 26.3 points per game in the first half on 38.3 percent shooting. Ortiz personifies the Seahawks' second-half success, averaging 6.6 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting after halftime, compared to just 3.8 points per game on 34.5 percent shooting in the first half.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
12 of Wagner's 19 games have been decided by less than 10 points or in overtime with Seahawks going 8-4 during that time.

BROOKLYN STATE OF MIND
Former Green & White head coach P.J. Carlesimo is currently 13-4 since being named as the interim coach of the Brooklyn Nets. Carlesimo ushered the Seahawk program to the Division I level in 1976-1977 and was the head coach for six seasons.

DOCTOR OF DUNK
Freshman Dwaun Anderson provided the highlight of the day against St. Francis Brooklyn game with his putback dunk that was ranked as the No. 6 play on SportsCenter for Saturday night. For the Michigan native, it was his second Top-10 dunk of the year after also ranking No. 6 following the Green & White's annual Madness Before Midnight event.

PARKER CRASHES THE GLASS
Parker recorded a season-best matching 11 rebounds at Central Connecticut and has now posted five double-digit rebounding games over his career on Grymes Hill.

HOME COOKING
The Seahawks are 5-1 at home this year and 17-4 over the last two years. All-time, the Green & White is 116-65 (.641) at the renovated Spiro Sports Center since it opened in 1999.

WILLIAMS LEADING THE WAY
In 45 career games over two years on Grymes Hill, Williams has paced the team in scoring 21 times and in rebounding on 23 occasions as the California native has notched 620 points (13.8 ppg) and 258 rebounds (5.7 rpg).

STATE OF MIND
Wagner has defeated teams from six different states (MD, NC, NJ, NY, PA, TX) this year.

ORTIZ EARNS HIGH PRAISE
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.

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.

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 FCS and online at ESPN3. Last year, the Green & White went 14-4 when playing on television, including a perfect 10-0 on Time Warner.

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.

MASON ANNOUNCES FIRST STAFF
Mason is 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, Youngstown 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.

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 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).

2003 TEAM TO BE HONORED
The 2012-2013 season also marks the 10th anniversary of Wagner's only NEC Basketball Championship. The history-making squad will be honored when Seahawks host LIU Brooklyn.

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 his own as a junior following the 2004-2005 season.

UP NEXT
Wagner hosts Quinnipiac on Saturday, February 2 at 4:00 pm.

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