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Photo Gallery (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons)

Pictured above: Redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Staten Island Advance/ Bill Lyons)

Postgame Highlights (College of Staten Island vs. Wagner)
Postgame Press Conference (College of Staten Island Head Coach Tom Petosa)
Postgame Press Conference (Fourth-year Wagner men's basketball head coach, Bashir Mason)

Battle of the Borough: Wagner College 83, College of Staten Island 59 (Cormac Gordon, Staten Island Advance)

Staten Island, NY – In the first All-Staten Island matchup in 16 years, the Wagner College Seahawks ran past their intra-borough rivals, the College of Staten Island Dolphins, 83-59, on Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
Fourth-year head coach Bashir Mason picked up career win No. 50 in the process, becoming the eighth head coach in Wagner men's basketball history to have at least 50 career victories.

Wagner (2-2) had a season-best four players score in double figures, led by redshirt-senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [Rhode Island]), who tossed in a season-high 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, and of 8-of-10 accuracy from the free-throw line.

Redshirt-senior guard Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay[Michigan State]) posted his fourth straight double-digit scoring performance of the season, setting a career high with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting while connecting on 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

Junior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) netted a career-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, to go with a team-high eight caroms, which ties his career high set at Seton Hall (11/15).  Sophomore guard Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac [Mt. Zion Prep]) added a season-best 11 points while also corralling eight rebounds in the victory.

The Dolphins, who hung tough for much of the contest, were paced by reigning CUNYAC Player of the Year Will Fonseca's team-high 17 points. Guard Edin Bracic added 12 while forward Thomas Delahanty contributed 10 points and a team-leading eight rebounds before fouling out.

The Seahawks held a 15-7 at the 12:38 mark of the first half before CSI responded with a 17-6 run over a four-minute stretch that gave the visitors a 22-21 lead after Khaleeq Baum made one-of-two from the charity stripe.  During the run, CSI's defense held the host Seahawks to just 3-of-9 shooting and 0-of-4 from long range while the visitors were an efficient 6-of-7 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point land.

After Baum converted on a layup that increased the Dolphins' lead to three, 24-21, Wagner responded with 15-7 run of its own to regain a five-point edge, 36-31, with 2:56 left to go before halftime. The Seahawks took a slim 40-36 advantage to the break, after being held to just 36.4 percent shooting in the first half despite, holding a plus-four advantage on the boards (21-17) in the opening frame.

In half number two, Saunders kicked-started the Wagner offense with a three-pointer off a feed from classmate, Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic), who finished the game with his fourth four-assist game of the season. CSI responded with a 10-2 outbreak over the next 4:28, that saw the Dolphins take a 46-45 lead at the 14:29 mark. The College of Staten Island held Wagner without a field goal during this run (0-of-7) and from long range (0-4).

Carey put an end to the Dolphins' run by converting a heavily-contested layup that gave Wagner a 47-46 advantage with 13:52 left in the contest. Carey's bucket shifted the momentum of the contest, as Wagner raced out to a 15-2 run over the next 4:46 that saw the lead increase to 12, 60-48, capped by Anderson, who completed an olf-fashioned three-point play. 

Delahanty made two freebies which brought the lead back down to 10, 60-50, with 9:26 left, but it would be all Wagner the rest of the way, as the Seahawks' closed out the contest by scoring 23 of the game's final 32 points, while converting on 50.0 percent shooting from the field (8-of-16) and holding the Dolphins to just 30.0 percent (3-of-10).

The Green & White will have a quick turnaround this week, as they gear up for their third straight home contest when they welcome MEAC member, the Morgan State University Bears, on Wednesday, December 2.  This contest will follow the women's basketball game between the Seahawks and NJIT Highlanders at 5:00 pm. Tip-off for the men's game is scheduled for 7:30 and will be streamed live on NEC Front Row (www.necfrontrow.com) as Joey Wahler will have the call from courtside.

Notes:

• In becoming the fourth coach in Seahawk history to hit the 50-win mark, Mason became the first to do so since Mike Deane, who recorded his 50th during the 2006-07 season.
• Under Mason, Wagner is now 41-8 when outrebounding its opponents
• When leading at halftime, the Seahawks are 34-4 under Mason
• When Wagner reaches 80 or more points, the Green & White are 19-5 under Coach Mason
• Redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson has now poured in double-figures in every game this season, setting a career-high of 17 this afternoon against CSI
• For the fourth straight game, sophomore guard Corey Henson dished out four assists. 
• Freshman guard Devin Liggeons pulled down his first career rebound, an offensive board with 26 seconds left in the contest
• The Seahawks have now won four of the last five meetings against their intra-borough rivals and hold an all-time mark of 12-3 vs. the Dolphins.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Facebook (facebook.com/WagnerAthletics), Twitter (@wagnerathletics), Instagram (@wagnerathletics) and YouTube (@WagnerSeahawks) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department. Follow Wagner MBasketball on Twitter (@Wagner_MBB) for the latest news and updates on the 2015-16 Wagner Men's Basketball team and head coach Bashir Mason (@BashirMason) for news on the fourth-year head coach.