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Monmouth	Roster	Schedule	Notes
Wagner	Roster	Schedule	Notes

West Long Branch - Wagner (5-7) will look to snap a two-game losing streak against Monmouth (6-6) on Monday, December 30 at 3:00 pm. Fans can listen to the game for free by clicking HERE as Joey Wahler will have the call beginning at 2:50 pm.

Top Storylines
#1 - Wagner and former NEC-rival Monmouth meet for just the third time as non-league foes.

#2 - After being a member of the NEC for 28 years, the Hawks left for the MAAC on July 1.

#3 - The Seahawks have won five-straight games against MU by an average of 5.6 ppg with each match-up being decided by 10 points or less.

Quick Hits
* The teams last met in the final regular season game of 2012-2013 with the Seahawks posting a 67-57 win over the Hawks at The MAC.

* Wagner is 2-1, all-time, at The MAC, which was opened in 2009-2010.

* Both teams are led by their backcourts as the Seahawks' top four scorers are guards while the Hawks' top five scorers are from the backcourt.

* The Green & White's guards have accounted for 71.4 percent of the offense (600/840) while MU's backcourt has accrued 83.3 percent (727/873) of the team's scoring.

* Monmouth holds a 32-25 advantage in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1984-1985 season.

* Wagner will be playing for the first time in 11 days while wrapping up a four-game road trip ... The gap is the longest of the season for the Seahawks.

* This will be the Green & White's second game against a MAAC opponent this season, previously dropping a 79-58 decision to Rider (12/14). Wagner is 14-26, all-time, against the MAAC with its last win coming by a 59-58 count at Saint Peter's on December 12, 2009.

* The Seahawks and the Hawks will be squaring up as non-conference foes for the first time since February 6, 1985. All-time, the Green & White is 2-0 in non-league games against the Hawks.

* Both teams have faced four common opponents with each squad losing to Penn State, Rider and St. John's. Wagner also defeated Penn with Monmouth falling to the Quakers.

* The Seahawks have lost two-straight games by more than 20 points for the first time since the 2009-2010 season, but are 15-6 following a loss over the last three seasons.

* Wagner which ended MU's tenure in the NEC, won both match-ups a year ago despite averaging just 63.5 points per game as junior Marcus Burton notched 14.5 points each time out with senior Kenneth Ortiz checking in with 12.5 points per game. Senior Latif Rivers missed both match-ups, but is averaging 22.6 points per game, on 47.8 percent (22-of-46) shooting over three career games against Monmouth. In his only game at the MAC, Rivers scored 28 points, on 8-of-14 shooting (4-of-9, 3-pt).

* Seahawk head coach Bashir Mason has never lost to the Hawks as an assistant or head coach, going 5-0 against the Hawks. However, graduate manager Obie Nwadike went just 3-8 as a player at Central Connecticut against MU while seeing his Blue Devil squad eliminated from the NEC Tournament in each of his first three years by Monmouth.

* Mason, who was a finalist for the CollegeInsider.com Joe B. Hall First-Year and Ben Jobe Minority Coach of the Year awards last season, is 24-19 in this his second year on Grymes Hill. He reached the 20-win plateau for his career in his 33rd game against Chestnut Hill on Tuesday, November 12, matching Chester Sellitto's 47-year school record.

* For the second season in a row, Mason, who is 29 years and 322 days old, is the youngest Division I head coach as well as the lone head man under the age of 30.

* In 2012-2013, Mason led Wagner to a 19-12 record (12-6 NEC) in 2012-2013. Both his overall and NEC win totals represented school-records for a rookie coach.

* Rivers, who didn't play at La Salle, now has 1,290 points and with 10 more will become just the fourth Seahawk (Jermaine Hall, Mark Porter, Dedrick Dye) to notch at least 1,300 since the turn of the century. He has also now paced the Green & White in scoring 30 times with Wagner going 20-10 during that time.

* Rivers ranks among the league leaders in scoring (14.7 ppg, t-8th), field goal percentage (.455, 12th), 3-point percentage (.395, t-9th) and free throw percentage (.768, 10th).

* Ortiz led all players at La Salle with a game-high 18 points, on 7-of-14 shooting, to go along with four assists, one block and one steal in a season-high 37 minutes. Over his last five games, he is averaging 15.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

* A two-time NEC Defensive Player of the Year, Ortiz became the first Wagner player to earn NEC Player of the Week accolades after averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in leading the Seahawks to wins over Vermont and Coppin State earlier this season. He continues to rank among the league leaders in scoring (13.3 ppg, 12th), assists (4.0 apg, 7th) and steals (1.6 spg, 4th) while also posting a 1.5 assist/turnover ratio (8th NEC).

* Junior Jay Harris had another solid game at La Salle, finishing with 14 points and four assists and is now averaging 14.5 points per game his last four times out while shooting 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from long range.

* Harris rounds out the double-figure scorers for the Seahawks' starting backcourt, checking in with 10.9 points per game (22nd) while ranking fifth with 2.4 three pointers per game and sixth with a 41.9 percent conversion rate from deep.

* Also notching double-figures for the second time in his career at La Salle was sophomore Dwaun Anderson, who finished 11 points over a career-high 32 minutes of action.

* Junior Mario Moody led the frontcourt at La Salle with seven points and eight rebounds and is now averaging 7.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game over his last four outings.

* Senior Naofall Folahan blocked two more shots his last time and continues to lead the NEC with 2.0 rejections per game while ranking 11th with 5.1 rebounds each time out. He is also now just 11 rejections short of Frantz Pierre-Louis' school-record total of 176.

* Folahan, Ortiz, Orlando Parker and Rivers comprise the Wagner senior class, which has registered 62 wins since descending on Grymes Hill and has accounted for 49.9 percent (419-of-840) of the team's offense this year. Parker, who has started and come off the bench this season, also ranks 12th in the NEC with 4.8 rebounds per game.

* The game with Monmouth marks the two-year anniversary of Ortiz's game-winning shot at Santa Clara, which helped the Seahawks to the 2011 Cable Car Classic. The Green & White has won each of its last two games on this date and are 8-8 since moving to Division I for the 1976-1977 season. Click HERE to revisit the shot!

* Over the last three games, Wagner has shot less than 40 percent from the field each time out while checking in with a combined 34.8 percent (62-for-178) conversion rate from the floor, including 28.6 percent (12-for-43) from deep, during that time.

* Wagner is also 25-12 in games decided by 10 points or less or in overtime over the last three years.

* By The Numbers (70) ... Over the last three years, the Seahawks are 37-2 when limiting the opposition to less than 70 points and 33-5 when scoring at least 70 points.

* Wagner is off to a solid start on defense, leading the NEC in rebounding (36.2) and blocks (5.0) (56th NCAA) while also ranking second in field goal percentage defense (.413) (99th NCAA), third in three-point field goal percentage defense (.320) (118th NCAA), third in scoring defense (74.6) and third rebounding margin (-3.5).

* Since Mason took over as coach last season, the Seahawks have limited their opposition to 40 percent or less shooting in 23 of their 43 games. Additionally, the Green & White is a perfect 8-0 during the Mason era when holding teams to less than 35 percent from the field.

* Over the last three years, Wagner is 18-1 when scoring 80 or more points, 29-3 when shooting 45 percent of higher, 45-1 when leading with five minutes to play - including capturing 38-straight - and 13-6 following a loss.

* Since the start of the 2011-2012 season, the Seahawks, who were picked to win the 2014 NEC Championship by the league's coaches, are 49-25, including 27-9 during conference play and 20-14 in non-conference action.

SCOUTING MONMOUTH
Monmouth sports a 6-6 record and has won three-straight by an average of 17.3 points per game thanks to a perimeter-based offense that is averaging 72.8 each time out while shooting 37.8 percent from long range with 7.8 triples per game. Leading the way are juniors Deon Jones (17.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Andrew Nicholas (15.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg) with freshman Justin Robinson (9.3 ppg, 4.0 apg) running the offense.

MONDAY, MONDAY
The Seahawks will be looking to improve to a perfect 3-0 on Mondays this season.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
Wagner, which is 2-1 at home this season and 25-7 over the last three years, will return to home for the first time in almost a month against North Carolina Central on Saturday, January 4 at 1:00 pm. 

ALL-TIME AT THE SPIRO
The Seahawks are 123-68 (.644), all-time, at the renovated Spiro Sports Center (since 1999).

A TALE OF TWO HALVES
Wagner is averaging just 30.4 points per game in the first half while shooting 35.9 percent from the floor, including 25.8 percent from deep, and 67.7 percent from the line. After halftime, the Seahawks are scoring 38.5 points each time out while shooting 45.1 percent from the field, including 37.5 percent from deep, and 75.6 percent from the line.

EIGHT IS ENOUGH
Wagner and La Salle combined for just eight turnovers as the Seahawks committed five miscues and the Explorers just three.

HIGH-POWERED BACKCOURT
Thanks to the stellar play of Burton, Harris, Rivers and Ortiz, the Wagner backcourt has accounted for 71.4 percent (600-of-800) of the team's offense while posting 34 of the Seahawks' 40 double-digit performances. Against Lafayette, the backcourt scored 61 of the Green & White's 65 points while shooting 50.0 percent (21-of-42) from the field, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from long range.

WITH ONE MORE BLOCK ...
Moody will crack the Seahawk top-10 list for career rejections. He has 78 blocks and is one behind Largest Agbejemisin for 10th.

MASON ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2018
Mason recently announced the signings of Joseph Cooper (Wilmington, DE / Concord), Aaren Edmead (Deer Park, NY / Deer Park) and Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD / DeMatha Catholic) to National Letters of Intent. Cooper will be playing his senior season at Concord High School averaging 13.0 points, 4.0 steals, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game as a junior at the Tatnall School. As a junior, Edmead averaged 14 points per game while helping lead Deer Park to a 17-4 record, a league championship and the Suffolk Class AA title game. Henson averaged 10.7 points while draining 48 three-pointers for DeMatha Catholic as a junior and is the top returning scorer for the Stags.

WAGNER PICKED TO REIGN SUPREME
For the first time in 21 years Wagner was picked in the annual NEC Coaches Poll to stand atop the summit at the end of the season as The Seahawks received seven of the 10 first place votes. Robert Morris and Bryant tied for second with the Colonials earning two first place nods. Three-time defending champion LIU Brooklyn garnered the final first place vote and was tabbed fourth. Central Connecticut was fifth, followed by last year's runner-up Mount St. Mary's, St. Francis Brooklyn, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U and FDU.

NEC TELEVISION PACKAGE ANNOUNCED
For the third-straight year Wagner will play at least two televised games at home, including one on national television as part of the NEC package. Before the aforementioned two televised home games, the Seahawks will play before a Fox College Sports (FCS) audience at Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, January 16 at 7:00 pm. Exactly one month later, the Green & White will host Bryant on Sunday, February 16 at 12:00 pm on the CBS Sports Network before welcoming FCS back to the Spiro for Senior Day against Robert Morris on March 1 at 6:00 pm.

THE NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Wagner will play seven games against teams that qualified for postseason play a year ago to highlight a 14-game non-conference slate. The Seahawks opened the season with a loss at Penn State (11/9), before defeating Chestnut Hill (11/12) in their home opener. After dropping a 73-57 decision to  St. John's (11/15), the Green & White rebounded with victorys at Coppin State (11/18) and vs. Vermont (11/21). After going 1-2 at the Gulf Coast Showcase, Wagner lost to Lafayette (12/3) before defeating Penn (12/7) and losing to Rider (12/14) and La Salle (12/19). The Seahawks wrap up their non-conference at Monmouth (12/30) and vs. North Carolina Central (1/4).

UP NEXT
Wagner wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule against North Carolina Central on Saturday, January 4 at 1:00 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 Bashir Mason">@BashirMason for news on the second-year coach.