Staten Island, NY - After more than holding its own against back-to-back Big East opponents, St. John's and Seton Hall, to open the 2015-16 season, the Wagner men's basketball team welcomes the University of Maine Black Bears, of the America East Conference, to Staten Island for the Green & White's home opener today at 2:00 p.m.

This contest will mark just the third all-time meeting between the schools, with each team owns victories on their respective home floors. Wagner's loe victory over Maine came back on February 10, 1992, when then head coach Tim Capstraw's Seahawks picked up a 77-66 win. The teams dd not meet again until last season when Maine evened the all-time series, defeating Wagner, 82-81 in overtime on December 2. 2014, thanks to a buzzer-beater from Zarko Valjarevic.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Maine is one of two America East opponents on this year's Wagner schedule (UMass Lowell, 12/30) and the Seahawks hold an all-time record of 16-15 against current league members.

LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER:

• For the second consecutive game, the Wagner men's basketball team battled a Big East team on near-equal terms as Seton Hall pulled away late for a 69-59 victory over the Seahawks at Walsh Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
• Wagner did not go down without a fight in this one, clawing back back from a 16-point second half deficit to make it a seven-point game with 90 seconds to play before losing by 10.
• The Pirates appeared to be on the verge of pulling away when a Derrick Gordon jumper with 9:26 left to play gave Seton Hall a 53-37 lead. Wagner then outscored the Hall 19-10 over the next eight minutes and when redshirt-senior guard Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay [Michigan State]) hit a driving layup at the 1:37 mark, the scrappy, tenacious Seahawks were within seven at 63-56. Ismael Sanago then hit two free throws for the Hall to make it a nine-point game and the Pirates were able to hold from there. 
• For the second straight game, the Seahawks were led in scoring by sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic), who followed his 16-point outing vs. St. John's with a 17-pont effort this afternoon. The athletic 6-3 Henson shot 7-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-7 from three-point range, while dishing out two assists, grabbing four rebounds and coming up with three steals in a spirited 33-minute stint. 
• Anderson also recorded his second consecutive double-digit scoring game. After going for 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds vs. the Johnnies, the 6-4, high-flying lefthander added another 11 today on 5-of-11 shooting, to go with two rebounds, steals and one assist in 28 minutes of action. 
• Sophomore 6-7 forward Japhet Kadji (Douala, Cameroon/Gulliver Prep [IMG Academy]) fresh off of a career-high 14-point outing at St. John's, added eight points.
• Graduate forward Henry Brooks (New Orleans, LA/Miller Grove [University of Pennsylvania]) also recorded eight points for the Seahawks on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, while adding three rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes before fouling out.

SCOUTING MAINE: 

• The Black Bears are facing their straight Northest Conference (NEC), tri-state area school, after falling on Thursday evening to LIU Brooklyn, 84-79, at the Steinberg Center.
• Last year's contest vs. Wagner marked the first Division I win for Maine head coach Bob Walsh, who previously guided Rhode Island College to a 204-90 record in nine years at the school. 
• The Black Bears will have one more meeting with an NEC school as they travel to New Britain, CT on November 29 to tangle with the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils.  

LAST TIME OUT FOR MAINE: 

• Maine led LIU Brooklyn by a pair at the intermission but couldn't hang on for the victory, falling 84-79 on Thursday evening at the Steinberg Center. 
• The Black Bears placed four scorers in double-figures, paced by Aaron Calixte's career-high 18 points. Calixte, who finished 7-for-9 from the floor, was joined in double-digits by fellow sophomore Kevin Little who totaled 15. Devine Eke posted a double-double, with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Issac Vann added 11 points.
• For the game, Maine shot 31-of-67 from the floor (46.3%) and 7-of-17 from beyond the arc but were undone by a cold 50 percent shooting night from the free throw line, as the Black Bears went just 10-for-20 at the stripe.

WAGNER AND THE AMERICA EAST
This marks the fourth consecutive year that fourth-year head coach Bashir Mason has scheduled at least one game against an America East opponent. 

• Coach Mason holds a 1-3 mark against teams from the America East, with the lone victory coming back on November 21, 2013, when the Seahawks defeated the University of Vermont Catamounts, 68-61 at the Spiro Sports Center.
• The Seahawks have yet to face three members of the conference, Binghamton, Hartford and UMass Lowell, but will take on the River Hawks before 2015 concludes on December 30 on Staten Island. 

SEAHAWKS IN HOME OPENERS:

• Since being elevated to the Division I level back during the 1976-77 season, the Wagner Seahawks are 28-11 in home openers. 
• Under head coach Bashir Mason, the Green & White are 3-0 in at in home openers.