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Wagner-Lafayette Highlights | Jay Harris' Career-High Seven Three Pointers

Penn	Roster	Schedule	Notes
Wagner	Roster	Schedule	Notes

Philadelphia, PA - Wagner (4-5) will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak against Penn (2-5) on Saturday, December 7 at the legendary Palestra with tip time slated for 7:00 pm. As always Joey Wahler will have all the action for you for free through Red Zone Media starting at 6:50 pm.

Today's Top Storylines
#1 - Wagner will play at the Palestra for just the second time in program history.

#2 - The Seahawks hold a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Penn, defeating the Quakers in each of the last two seasons.

#3 - Senior Kenneth Ortiz scored a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds in helping the G&W to a 68-63 OT victory in last year's meeting.

Quick Hits
* Wagner (4-5) will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak when it heads to Penn (2-5) on Saturday, December 7 at 7:00 pm.

* The Seahawks haven't lost four-straight since dropping five in a row to end the 2010-2011 season.

* Wagner has won its last four games vs. Ivy League competition and is an even 20-20 (9-14 road) since moving up to D-1 (since 1976-1977).

* Additionally, the Seahawks have defeated seven of the eight Ancient "8" schools (Cornell).

* Penn is 15-3, all-time, against the NEC with two of the three losses coming at the hands of the Green & White.

* Head Coach Bashir Mason is 2-0 as a coach against the Quakers, but went 0-4 as a player against Penn.

* Mason reached the 20-win plateau for his career in just 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 299 days old, is the youngest Division I head coach as well as the lone head man under the age of 30. He is 23-17 in his short time on Grymes Hill.

* 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. Mason was also a finalist for the CollegeInsider.com Joe B. Hall First-Year and Ben Jobe Minority Coach of the Year awards.

* In the teams' last meeting, Ortiz notched his second career double-double with a personal-best 23 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists. In overtime, the Garden State native scored eight points while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in closing out the victory.

* Senior Latif Rivers also had a big game with 15 points, on 3-of-5 shooting from long range, and is averaging 16.5 points per game over two meetings with the Quakers.

* Rivers' cousin Ibrahim Jabbar played at Penn and was the 2007 Ivy League Player of the Year and has played for the Bulgarian National Team.

* Quaker coach Jerome Allen, like Mason, was a standout in the collegiate ranks playing at Penn, before playing for the Nuggets and the Pacers in the NBA.

* Junior Jay Harris paced Wagner in the Seahawks' 77-65 loss to Lafayette, scoring a career-high 23 points, on 7-of-11 shooting from long range. The Valparaiso transfer's 23 points are the most by a Green & White player this season and the third time he has notched at least 20 in his collegiate career.

* Harris shot just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from the field, including 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from deep, in the first two games of the season, Since then he has made good on 48.9 percent (22-of-45) shooting, including 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from deep, through the last six games. On the year, he ranks among the league leaders in scoring (10.6 ppg, 25th), three pointers/game (2.5, 5th) and three point percentage (.426, 8th).

* Wagner employed just its third different starting line-up of the season against the Leopards, starting the four seniors (Naofall Folahan, Ortiz, Orlando Parker, Rivers) and Harris, marking just the second time that the Class of 2013 has started a game. Folahan, Ortiz, Parker and Rivers opened the Seahawks' 58-43 victory over Hofstra on December 6, 2011.

* The senior class has registered 61 wins since descending on Grymes Hill and has accounted for 49.3 percent (322-of-653) of the team's offense this year.

* Rivers has now notched double-figures in scoring in eight of his nine games this and ranks among the league leaders in scoring (14.9 ppg, 9th), field goal percentage (.478, 9th) and 3-point percentage (.424, 9th). Additionally, the Green & White is 19-9, all-time, when Rivers paces the squad in scoring.

* Rivers' 13 points against Lafayette also tied him with 2009 graduate Jamal Smith (1,260 points) for 20th on the all-time Wagner scoring and his 170 three pointers and 310 free throws ranks ninth.

* Folahan, who blocked a personal-best matching seven shots against Stetson, continues to lead the NEC with an average of 1.9 blocks per game while also ranking sixth with a team-best 5.9 rebounds each time out. He now has 158 rejections and is just 18 off of Frantz Pierre-Louis' school-record total of 176.

* Ortiz, who averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in leading Wagner to wins over Vermont and Coppin State, continues to rank among the league leaders in scoring (12.4 ppg) (13th NEC), assists (4.1 apg) (t-7th) and steals (1.4 spg) (4th) while posting a 1.48 assist/turnover ratio (8th NEC).

* Ortiz has recorded over 700 points, 300 rebounds and 300 assists in three years with the Seahawks.

* Junior Marcus Burton, who paced Wagner in scoring against Coppin State (21) and UIC (17) despite coming off the bench, continues to the lead the Seahawks' second unit. The Green & White second unit has outscored their counterparts in eight of nine games thanks to Burton, who is third on the team and 24th in the NEC with 10.8 points per game. The North Carolina native also ranks among the NEC leaders in free throw shooting (.952, 1st) and field goal percentage (.450, 15th).

* Thanks to the stellar play of Rivers, Ortiz, Burton and Harris, the Wagner backcourt has accounted for 70.3 percent (459-of-653) of the team's offense while posting 25 of the Seahawks' 30 double-digit performances.

* Additionally, 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.

* Wagner is off to a fantastic start on the defensive end of the court, leading the NEC in rebounding offense (37.0/game),  blocked shots (4.7/game) and defensive rebounds (26.1/game) while also ranking second in field goal percentage defense (.410), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.272) and rebounding margin (-0.9).

* Since Mason took over as coach last season, the Seahawks have limited their opposition to 40 percent or less shooting in 22 of its 40 games.

* 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.

* The Seahawks are also now 36-2 during that time when limiting teams to less than 70 points.

* Wagner is 24-12 over the last three years in games decided by 10 points or less or in overtime.

* By The Numbers (40) ... Also, the Seahawks are 38-9 when shooting 40 percent or higher and 29-8 when limiting opposing teams to 40 percent or less shooting.

* Since the start of the 2011-2012 season, Wagner, which was picked to win the 2014 NEC Championship by the league's coaches, is 48-23, including 27-9 during conference play and 19-12 in non-conference action.

* The Seahawks are 123-68 (.644), all-time, at the renovated Spiro Sports Center (since 1999).

ROAD WARRIORS
Wagner's trip to the City of Brotherly Love kicks off a four-game road trip for the Seahawks as the Green & White will play 10 of its next 13 games away from the friendly confines of the Spiro Sports Center.

SCOUTING PENN
Penn enters the game with a deceiving 2-5 record as four of its five losses have come to schools from power conferences. The Quakers are averaging 70.4 points per game, led by Tony Hicks (16.4 ppg) with Drien Nelson-Henry (13.0 ppg), Miles Jackson-Cartwright (12.6 ppg) and Fran Dougherty (9.9 ppg) rounding out the double-figure scorers.

COMMON FOES
Both Wagner and Penn have or will play Lafayette, La Salle, Monmouth and Penn State this season.

MASON AT THE PALESTRA
As a player at Drexel, Mason went just 2-8 at the Palestra with both wins coming against Saint Joseph's.

TALE OF TWO HALVES
After halftime, Wagner is shooting 45.7 percent, including 35.4 percent from long range, and 75.5 percent from the line while averaging 39.7 points per game. In the opening stanza, the Seahawks are shooting 39.1 percent, including 31.2 percent from deep, and 68.6 percent from the line while notching just 32.9 points each time out.

IN ITS FIVE LOSSES ...
Wagner has led for just six minutes and six seconds - all against Lafayette.

NOT GOOD
The Seahawks are 0-5 this year when trailing at the half and being outshot from the floor by the opposition.

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 Fairleigh Dickinson.

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 its home opener. After dropping a 73-57 decision to  St. John's (11/15), Wagner rebounded with a 102-87 victory over Coppin State (11/18) and a 68-61 win over Vermont (11/21). After going 1-2 at the Gulf Coast Showcase, Wagner hosted Lafayette (12/3) and will next play at Penn (12/7) while starting a four-game road trip. The Seahawks will then travel to Rider (12/14), 2013 Sweet 16 participant La Salle (12/19) and Monmouth (12/30) before hosting North Carolina Central (1/4).

MASON PROFILED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES
While being the youngest coach in Division I is a story in itself, it may not be the most unique regarding Wagner's second-year head man Bashir Mason. The Jersey City native was recently profiled by the New York Times and Zach Schonbrun due to the fact that Mason is believed to be the only Division I men's head coach that is also student-teaching in the mornings in order to attain his master's degree in education. Click HERE for the article and HERE to watch the FoxSports1 video.

UP NEXT
Wagner returns to action at Rider on Saturday, December 14 at 3:00 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.