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New Britain, CT - Paced by a season-high 12 three pointers, Wagner rolled to a wire-to-wire 88-59 victory over Central Connecticut in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams at Detrick Gymnasium.

Led by junior Marcus Burton's (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) game-high 18 points off the bench, the Seahawks snapped a seven-game road losing streak to the Blue Devils in improving to 7-7. Brandon Peel scored 11 points to pace CCSU, which falls to 4-10.

Burton's game-high output fueled an impressive 50-point performance by the Green & White bench, as the reserves shot a blistering 67.9 percent (19-of-28) from the floor, including 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from long distance.

Lost amidst the offensive fireworks was senior Naofall Folahan's (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) school-record 177th career block late in the second half, which broke Frantz Pierre-Louis' 14-year school record. The Republic of Benin native added one more rejection for good measure and finished with three blocks, four points and three rebounds.

Wagner opened the scoring with a pair of Jay Harris (Jr., Aurora, IL / Valparaiso) three pointers off passes from senior Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Southern Mississippi) while setting the tone for the night. Central Connecticut managed to keep it close in the first half and trailed just 36-30 with 4:07 to play until halftime, before the Seahawks capped the stanza with one of their most impressive runs of the year.

Senior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) banked in a triple from 30 feet on the ensuing possession and Burton followed with a three pointer of his own after stealing the ball. After a defensive stop, the Green & White collected a pair of offensive caroms with Burton making the Blue Devils pay with his third triple of the half. Then with just under a minute to play before halftime, Hugo Naurais (Jr., Nimes, France Elan Chalon) drilled a three of his off a pass from Burton in extending the lead to a half-high 18 at 48-30 with 44 seconds until halftime. The Blue Devils answered with a jumper to quell the 12-0 Wagner run and make it a 48-32 game at intermission.

The Seahawks jumped out to their 16-point halftime advantage thanks to shooting a blistering 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from long range as Burton, Harris, Naurais and Rivers combined to make good on all 10 of their triple tries. The Green & White also forced nine CCSU miscues en route to posting a 20-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Despite never being seriously threatened in the second half, Wagner was unable to put away Central Connecticut and led 73-55 with 3:58 remaining following a Blue Devil bucket. After the final media timeout (3:58), the Seahawks put the finishing touches on their biggest NEC road victory in over four years with a 14-1 run en route to posting a decisive 88-59 win.
 
Burton paced Wagner in scoring for the fourth time this season with 18 points to go along with five assists and four steals. Harris added 14 points and a career-high matching six assists while Rivers scored 11 points in becoming just the fourth 1,300-point scorer for the Seahawks since the turn of the century. Senior Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) also added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers for the Green & White.

Wagner shot 49.3 percent (33-for-67) from the floor, including a season-high 60.0 percent (12-for-20) from long range while winning the rebounding battle (41-34) and forcing 20 Blue Devil miscues that led to a season-high 32 points off turnovers.

Limited to just eight scholarship players, CCSU converted on just 34.6 percent (18-for-52), including 25.0 percent (4-for-16) from long range.

The Seahawks will next be in action on Saturday, January 11 at 4:00 pm against three-time defending NEC Champion LIU Brooklyn at the Spiro Sports Center.

Notes:
* Wagner had last won at Central Connecticut on January 22, 2004 when current graduate manager Obie Nwadike was a freshman for the Blue Devils.

* The victory was the largest in NEC road game since besting Monmouth 91-60 on February 28, 2009 and the biggest in a conference game since posting a 90-50 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn on December 3, 2011.

* Rivers now has 1,301 points and moved post Art Remond (1,291) and Hank Pedro (1,298) into 16th place on the Seahawk career scoring list.

* Wagner has now won 40-straight games when leading with five minutes to play and 24 straight when limiting teams to 60 points or less.

* Since Seahawk head coach Bashir Mason took over at the start of last season, his teams have limited the opposition to less than 40 percent shooting in 25 of the Green & White's 45 games.

* Wagner now leads the all-time series by a 19-18 count with the teams tied at 17-17 since the Seahawks moved to Division I for the 1976-1977 season.

* Burton is averaging 18.7 points and 5.7 assists with just four turnovers while shooting 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the floor and 60.0 percent (9-of-15) from long range over the last three meetings between  the teams - all Green & White wins.

* Thanks to Burton, the Wagner reserves scored at least 50 points for the first time since recording 57 in an 105-64 win over Union on December 15, 2006.

* Ortiz matched Harris with six assists as the Seahawks notched 22 in falling one short of their season-high total of 23 set at Coppin State.

* The 29-point loss was the worst by Central Connecticut State in a NEC home game since dropping a 76-45 decision to Quinnipiac on January 14, 2010.

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