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Men's Basketball

Seahawks Travel To Third Straight MAAC Opponent, Tangle With Fairfield Tonight At 7:00 PM

Game Nine
182062804
Wagner College Seahawks (5-3; 0-0 NEC)
at
Fairfield University Stags (4-4; 1-1 MAAC)
                     
Game DetailsDecember 18, 2015  | Bridgeport, CT|
7:00 p.m. | Webster Bank Arena (10,000)
Game CoverageTV: None
Stream: FairfieldStags.TV ($ - premimum)

Radio: RedZone Media (Listen Live)
Play-by-Play: Joey Wahler

Live Stats: Click Here

Twitter: @WagnerAthletics 
Twitter: @Wagner_MBB
Twitter Hashtag: #CHAOSonthehill
Wagner LinksMedia Guide | Game Notes | Roster | Schedule
Fairfield Links   Game Notes | Roster | Schedule


For Wagner College, The Question Is, "Where Are The Shooters" (Cormac Gordon, Staten Island Advance)

Bridgeport, CT - After splitting the first two games of a season-long four-game road stretch and seeing its five-game win streak snapped, the Wagner men's basketball team will face its third and final Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponent of the 2015-16 season as the Seahawks tangle with the Fairfield University Stags at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT this evening at 7:00 p.m.

Wagner is looking to bounce back after falling to Monmouth, 73-54, at the Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC) in West Long Branch, NJ. Fairfield will look for back-to-back wins after defeating Rider, 74-70, back on December 4. 


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
  • The Seahawks and Stags are meeting for the first time since December 3, 1996, when the two squared off on Staten Island as Fairfield defeated Wagner, 86-71. 
  • Despite being held to 38.0 percent shooting from the field, Wagner had three players score in double-figures, led by 2015 Wagner Hall of Fame inductee, Frantz Pierre-Louis, who netted a team-leading 16 points and 14 rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.  

LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER:
  • Playing in front of a loud, sellout crowd of 3,901, the Seahawks trimmed Monmouth's lead to six points with 7:00 left in the game, before the Hawks pulled away for a 73-54 win at the Multipurpose Activity Center (MAC) on Sunday afternoon. 
  • The loss snapped Wagner's (5-3) five-game win streak while Monmouth improved to 6-3 on the year.
  • Three Seahawks finished in double figures, led by redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]), who tallied 12 points and a tied a season-best nine rebounds. Classmate Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay [Michigan State]) and sophomore Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac [Mt. Zion Prep]) each scored 11 points on the afternoon.
  • Four Monmouth players scored in double-digits, led by a game-high 19-point performance from Micah Seaborn, who was 6-of-11 from the field while draining 3-of-5 from long range in his 31 minutes of action. MU's Chris Brady contributed 15 points and a team-leading eight caroms while recording a game-best four blocks in 22 minutes of play. Justin Robinson tallied 12 points and six rebounds while Deon Jones contributed 10 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes for the Hawks who own victories over UCLA, USC and Notre Dame.
  • The Seahawks held their only lead of the contest, 4-2, after Aaman was able to muster in two on a contested layup.  The lead remained within two possessions as Monmouth's Seaborn extended the score to 16-12 with 9:21 left in the first half.  Anderson brought the Green & White back with a left-wing three-pointer off a feed from Henson, as the visitors were down 16-15.
  • Wagner was held to five points over the final 3:10 of the first half, as the visitors trailed 32-20 at the intermission. The Green & White were held to just 24.2 shooting in the opening frame while holding a 22-16 edge on the glass.
  • The Seahawks opened the second half with a pair of three-pointers by sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic), which brought Wagner to within eight, 34-26. Monmouth, however, responded back with a 9-0 spurt to take a 17-point advantage, 43-26, after Seaborn drilled a pair of free-throws.
  • Wagner tenaciously fought back with an 18-8 run, that was cemented  when Saunders launched a top-of-the-key three-pointer while being fouled in the process. The second-year guard, who posted two "four-point plays" a season ago at home against Rider, stepped up to the charity stripe and rattled in the free throw in cutting the deficit to just seven, 51-44, with 11:12 remaining in the contest.
  • After Colin Stewart drained a three-pointer to push the Monmouth lead back up to 10 at 54-44, Wagner scored eight of the next 12 points when Aaman banked in a layup with 7:00 left, making it a six-point game contest at 58-52.
  • This would be the closest would get as the Hawks closed out the game by scoring 13 of the final 15 points en route to the 19-point victory.
  • For the game, the Seahawks were held to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field while converting just 25.0 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-24).  
  • Wagner held the advantage on the boards, 40-31. 

SCOUTING THE FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY STAGS:
  • Marcus Gilbert leads Fairfield in scoring with 18.3 points per game, which ranks among the top-100 in the nation. In seven games, Gilbert is logging 29.0 minutes while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, 42.2 percent from three-point range and converting 86.4 percent from the free-throw line. 
  • Tyler Nelson is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.1 ppg, while averaging a team-high 34.4 minutes a contest, in addition to connecting on 90.0 percent from the free-throw line.
  • After dropping the first three games of the 2015-16 season (Yale, at North Carolina and at Northwestern), the Stags won their next three contests (Sacred Heart, at Maryland-Eastern Shore and home for Columbia). Currently, Fairfield is 1-1 in league play, after falling to Iona, 101-77 on December 1 and picking up a 74-70 victory against Rider (December 4).

FAIRFIELD HEAD COACH SYDNEY JOHNSON:
  • Johnson became the 12th head coach of the Fairfield University men's basketball program back in April of 2011. Johnson joined the Stags program after spending four seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, Princeton University. 
  • Coach Johnson is in his fifth season, leading the Stags to the  postseason in two of those campaigns. The 2011-12 Stags reached the MAAC Tournament Championship game, the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) semifinals, and defeated Arizona State, Old Dominion, and Iona, among others, en route to a 22-win season. In 2012-13, the Stags earned another postseason berth as a participant in the 2013 CIT. 
  • Fairfield posted 41 victories under Coach Johnson in his first two seasons and 55 wins overall. 


SERIES HISTORY:
  • This evening's contest is only the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools, with Fairfield holding a 4-0 edge in the head-to-head series.
  • The last time these two schools met was back on December 3, 1996, on Staten Island as the Seahawks dropped an 86-71 decision. 


WAGNER ALL-TIME VS. THE METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE:
  • All-time, Wagner holds a 95-209 record against teams that currently make up the MAAC.
  • The lone school that Wagner hasn't played from the conference is Canisius.


WAGNER ALL-TIME VS. CONNECTICUT DIVISION I SCHOOLS:
  • Wagner holds an all-time mark of 62-57 against all Division I Connecticut schools (Central Connecticut, UConn, Fairfield, Hartford, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart and Yale.)
  • The lone Connecticut D-I school that Wagner hasn't faced is Hartford.
 
STATS COMPARISON (2015-16 stats)
CategoryWagnerFairfield
Points65.277.9
Opponent Points64.180.8
Rebounds40.538.4
Opponent Rebounds34.141.0
Field Goal Pct.37.945.6
Opponent Field Goal Pct.41.341.4
Three-Point Field Goal Pct.27.934.4
Opponent Three-Point Field Goal Pct.36.632.9
Three-Point Field Goal Made Per Game5.89.4
Opponent Three-Point Field Goal Made Per Game6.59.9
Free Throws Made13.511.8
Opponent Free Throws Made14.915.9
Assists11.017.4
Opponent Assists12.515.9
Turnovers15.615.0
Opponent Turnovers17.012.0
Blocked Shots3.13.6
Opponent Blocked Shots4.01.9
    


ANDERSON HIGH-FLYING ACT REACHES APEX WITH "THE DUNK": 
  • It may not have erased the painful memory of "The Shot," but the finish of last Wednesday's game between Wagner and Rider was only slightly less memorable. 
  • Nearly 23 years ago, Rider's Darrick Suber sank Wagner's NCAA hoop dreams with perhaps the most iconic buzzer shot in league history in the 1993 NEC Championship game.
  • Last Wednesday, "The Shot" was joined by the "The Dunk" in another touchstone moment of a rivalry that dates back to the Rider's NEC days back in the 90's. 
  • Playing at the same Alumni Gym in Lawrenceville, NJ, Wagner and Rider were embroiled in a nip-and-tuck battle in a game that featured 12 lead changes. Wagner redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson's (Suttons Bay/Suttons Bay (Michigan State)) layup with 1:00 on the clock gave the Seahawks a 63-60 lead, but back-to-back Rider layups left the Green & White trailing by one with six seconds left on the clock. 
  • Following a timeout, Wagner sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) launched a three-pointer that bounced high off the rim. That's where the fun began. 
  • Anderson, who was stationed approximately 30 feet away from the rim when the shot went up, sprinted toward the hoop and took off. 
  • At the apex of his jump, as he soared over Rider would-be rebounders, he caught the ball with one hand and slammed it home with two seconds to play.  
  • The reaction was instant on social media as the video quickly went viral and landed #5 on the #SCTop10 that night, the fifth such time in his career Anderson has been featured on the daily countdown. 


DWAUN SEEING DOUBLE:
  • Dwaun Anderson has scored in double-figures in all eight games this season en route to averaging 12.6 for the year.
  • His season-opening streak is the longest by a Seahawk since the  2013-14 campaign when his former teammate, Latif Rivers ('14), opened that year with six straight games scoring in double-digits.


LAST FIVE GAMES FOR WAGNER:
  • The Seahawks are 4-1 over their last five contests, with Anderson and sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) averaging 12.8 and 12.4 points per game, respectively. 


IT'S THE FINAL (FIVE MINUTE) COUNTDOWN:
  • In the last five minutes of games this season, Wagner is averaging 10 points while connecting on close to 80.0 percent from the free-throw line (78.9%).
  • The Green & White are also a +2.4 on the glass during the final five minutes of games, averaging seven rebounds. Michael Carey leads the team with 11 rebounds during the final five minutes. 


GAMES OF THREES: 
  • The Wagner men's basketball team has made at least one three-pointer in 312 straight games.
  • The last time the Seahawks failed to convert a three-pointer was back on February 28, 2004, at home against NEC-foe, Mount St. Mary's, in which the Green & White were held to 0-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.


LET ME PAINT YOU A PICTURE:
  • Through eight games of the 2015-16 season, Wagner has scored 232 of its 522 total points from inside the paint. 
  • The  Seahawks are outscoring their opponents, 232-to-200, down low.


WAGNER GETS DEFENSIVE:
  • The Seahawks rank among the top-50 in the entire NCAA in three statistical categories, all three are defensive measures.
  • Wagner is 18th in the nation in turnovers forced, averaging 17.0 per contest. 
  • The Green & White are averaging 8.5 steals per game, good for 29th.
  • Finally, the Seahawks are yielding 64.1 ppg to their opposition, food for 47th in NCAA while ranking first in the Northeast Conference. 


NEXT UP:
  • The Green & White conclude a season-long four-game  road trip with a visit to Fairfax, VA to meet the George Mason University Patriots of the Atlantic 10 on Tuesday, December 22. 
  • Tip-off is slated for high noon (12:00 p.m.)


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.  
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Players Mentioned

Mike Aaman

#34 Mike Aaman

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Senior
Dwaun Anderson

#2 Dwaun Anderson

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
Corey Henson

#0 Corey Henson

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Romone Saunders

#11 Romone Saunders

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Michael Carey

#23 Michael Carey

G
6' 5"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Mike Aaman

#34 Mike Aaman

6' 8"
Redshirt Senior
F
Dwaun Anderson

#2 Dwaun Anderson

6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
G
Corey Henson

#0 Corey Henson

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Romone Saunders

#11 Romone Saunders

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Michael Carey

#23 Michael Carey

6' 5"
Junior
G

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