Game Notes: Saint Francis U | Wagner | Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Release ~ Jan. 19, 2015Watch: NEC Front Row (Joey Wahler; Play-by-Play)
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Staten Island Advance Game Preview Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team closes out the month of January with three of it's next four games being played at the Spiro Sports Center, beginning with tonight's key Northeast Conference (NEC) tilt against the Saint Francis U Red Flash at 7:00 p.m.
Tonight's contest is the 65
th all-time meeting between the two institutions with the Red Flash holding a 33-31 advantage in the head-to-head series. These two teams met in the NEC opener back on January 3
in a Loretto, PA when the Seahawks fell to SFU, 85-68, despite a team-high 15 points from freshman guard
Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic). Junior forward
Stedman Allen (Bronx, NY/Labette CC) nearly recorded his first career double-double that afternoon, finishing with 12 points and nine caroms in defeat.
THE COACHESWagner:
Bashir Mason:
43-36, Third Season
Overall Record at Wagner: Same
All-time against SFU: 3-1
Saint Francis U:
Rob Krimmel, Third Season
Overall Record: 24-52
Overall Record at Saint Francis U.: Same
All-time against WC: 1-3
LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER...- Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) tossed in a game-high 22 points to lead four Seahawks in double figures as Wagner shot 50 percent from the floor, won the rebounding battle 41-19, and hit 83.9 percent from the free throw line, in earning an 82-68 win at Fairleigh Dickinson.
- Burton eclipsed the 20-point mark for the fifth time (in addition to two 30-point performances) vs. the Knights as the fourth-year guard went 6-of-13 shooting from the floor. In the process, the 6-0 sharp-shooter moved to within 89 points of becoming the 42nd member of the 1,000 point scoring club at Wagner.
- Freshman guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) added 14 points off the bench, while junior forward Stedman Allen (Bronx, NY/Labette CC) and freshman forward Japhet Kadji (Douala, Cameroon/IMG Academy) supplied 10 points apiece for the Seahawks.
- Kadji's 10 points, all of which came in the first half, marked a career high as are the nine rebounds that he corralled during a productive 15-minute stint.
SCOUTING THE RED FLASH...- Saint Francis U is coming off of an eventful 48-hour stretch that saw the Red Flash split of a pair of one-point, home buzzer-beaters.
- On Janaury 16, Sacred Heart's Jordan Allen converted a layup on a perfectly-executed inbounds play to give the Pioneers a 78-77 lead with 7.4 seconds to play, SFU junior guard Greg Brown drove the length of the floor and missed a layup. The rebound tipped off the hand of an SHU player and into the hands of senior Earl Brown, who tossed in the off-balance game-winner in the lane, narrowly beating the final buzzer as pandemonium hit DeGol Arena.
- Two days later, with St. Francis Brooklyn leading by a point and time winding down, the ball once again was in Greg Brown's hands. He was fouled on a drive and hit both free throws to give SFU a 59-58 advantage with 7.5 seconds on the clock.
- TUNE UP: #NECCHAOS...The Terriers senior guard Brent Jones rushed the ball down the court and threw up a runner that was off the mark. After the rebound was tipped, it settled into the hands of junior forward Chris Hooper. In a carbon copy of the previous game in reverse, Hooper quickly released the ball as he was falling backwards, getting the shot off just before the final buzzer, giving the Terriers a 60-59 win.
ALL-TIME AGAINST SAINT FRANCIS U...- Wagner is 31-33 all-time against the Red Flash, after dropping the NEC opener, 85-68, in Loretto, PA on January 3.
- This loss snapped a four-game win streak that the Seahawks had held over the Red Flash.
- The Green & White hold a seven-game home wining streak over SFU, as the last Red Flash win on Grymes Hill was by a 68-61 verdict back January 19, 2006,
WAGNER VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE...- The Seahawks are 261-279 all-time against current NEC members and are 3-3 on the 2014-2015 season.
BURTON'S SURGE...- No NEC player has been hotter since the start of league play than Wagner senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler). The Charlotte, NC native took over the NEC scoring lead over the weekend after averaging 26.5 ppg on the week, including his second career 30-point performance with a 31-point outing against Bryant last Thursday. In that game, Burton hit 5-10 from outside the arc and made 6-7 from the line.
- He added a game-high 22 points on Saturday as the Seahawks recorded their first road win of the season with an 82-68 triumph over Fairleigh Dickinson.
- Burton has led the Seahawks in scoring in each of the last five games, averaging 26.0 ppg over that stretch.
- He paces the NEC in both overall (17.6) and conference-only (23.0) point production
- With 911 career points, he is on track to become the 42nd player in Wagner history to crack the 1,000-point plateau.
- Burton was named Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Association (MBWA) Division I Player of the Week for the week of January 20.
CHAIRMEN OF THE (OFFENSIVE) BOARDS...- According the most recent NCAA Division I statistics (games played through Jan. 18), the Seahawks rank 10th out of 355 teams in Offensive Rebounds Per Game, pulling down an average of 14.65 per contest.
- West Virginia leads the nation in this category at 17.83 per game.
- In the 82-68 road triumph at Fairleigh Dickinson (1/17), the Seahawks outmuscled the Knights 41-to-19 on the glass, with the +22 advantage being a season high.
- The Seahawks have posted the third and sixth-highest offensive rebound totals in the conference to date.
ROMONE THE CONQUERER...- Since garnering his first collegiate start against Lafayette on December 6, freshman guard Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Mt. Zion Prep) has emerged as candidate for the NEC All-Rookie team. Saunders has averaged 33.2 minutes while averaging 12.9 points per game, including six double-digit scoring performances during his eight starts.
- The Temple Hills, MD native ranks third among all NEC newcomers in rebounding at 4.2 per game, while ranking fifth in both scoring (9.4 ppg) and steals (1.1).
- The first-year guard ranks among the top-10 neophytes in minutes played (25.5 mpg), free-throw percentage (75.0%), assists/turnover ratio (1.3) and three-point field goal percentage at 33.8%.
UP NEXT…- The Seahawks will embark on a trip back up to New England as they travel to New Britain, CT to square off against the Central Connecticut Blue Devils on Saturday, January 24. Tip-off from Detrick Gymnasium is slated for 7:00 p.m. the game will be televised live on MSG + and Fox College Sports
Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department and on the men's basketball program and head coach Bashir Mason (@BashirMason) for news on the third-year head coach.
