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Staten Island Advance Recap (Cormac Gordon)

Postgame Interview (Junior Mike Aaman & Joey Wahler)

FDU vs. Wagner (2/14/15) Highlights 

Staten Island, NY- Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) poured in a game-high 31 points, his third 30-point performance of the year, while junior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan/Rhode Island) tossed in 20 points and pulled down a career-high 23 rebounds in leading the Wagner men's basketball team to an 83-79 overtime win over Fairleigh Dickinson today at the Spiro Sports Center.

With the victory, the Seahawks earn a berth in next month's eight-team Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament as Wagner moves into seventh place with a 7-7 league mark and improve to 9-16 overall. In dropping their 12^th straight game, the Knights fall to 2-12 in the NEC and 7-18 overall.

For Burton, the 31-point outing ties for the second-highest scoring game of his career, matching the 31 he tallied at Bryant (1/15/15).  The 6-0 sharp-shooter's career-high was a 38-point affair in an 83-80 overtime win over the defending NEC champions, Mount St. Mary's, back on January 5.

For Aaman, his 23-rebound performance marks the first time that a Wagner player has hit the 20-rebound plateau since Durell Vinson corralled 20 caroms in a 71-67 win on the road against Fairleigh Dickinson back on January 27, 2008.  It also marks the most rebounds ever recorded by a Seahawk in conference play, with the previous conference-best by a Wagner player being 22 rebounds by Frantz Pierre-Louis vs. LIU Brooklyn (1/17/96). In addition, Aaman's career-day on the glass is the new high water mark by an NEC player this season and ties for the third-best rebounding output in the nation this season.

The Seahawks received solid contributions from 6-6 junior forward Stedman Allen (Bronx, NY/Labette (KS)) and f6-3 reshman combo guard Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Mt. Zion Prep) as they each tallied 10 points while Allen pulled in five caroms.

The Knights had four score in double-figures, led by a 17-point performance from Stephan Jiggetts. Matt MacDonald added 14 while Mustafaa Jones and Darian Anderson chipped in 13 and 10, respectively, with Anderson dishing out a team-leading eight assists in defeat.

The Knights opened the contest on a 12-5 run over the first three minutes of the contest. Wagner countered with a 20-7 run, which was capped off by a jumper by 6-3 freshman guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) that saw the Green & White take a 13-point lead, 42-29, . 

FDU was able to score the next five points to bring the contest back into single-digits as Jones drained a three-pointer off a feed from Anderson. This was the closest that the Knights would get in the first half as the Seahawks closed the opening stanza on an 11-2 run that increased thair halftime lead to 17, 53-36.  Wagner held the Knights to 0-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc while Burton scored 22 first half points on 8-of-12 shooting. Aaman added nine points and nine caroms in the first half while the team shot 58.6 percent from the field and outscored the Knights 24-13 in the paint.

The second half momentum swung quickly in FDU's way as the Knights went on a 24-8 run following intermission, holding the home team to 1-of-14 from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, while forcing nine turnovers. The Knights converted 7-of-15 from the field in this stretch led by MacDonald's nine points, which trimmed the lead to one, 61-60, with 7:03 left in regulation.

After MacDonald made 1-of-2 from the line to cut the lead to 64-61 with 4:53 left, Jiggetts converted on a three-pointer that tied the score at 64-64 before nailing another trifecta on the Knights' ensuing possession, making it 67-64, marking FDU's first lead of the game since since it was 15-13 with 13:40 left in the first half. .

Over the next three minutes, the contest went back-and-forth from the free-throw line with Jiggetts putting the visitors up two, 71-69, with 52 seconds left in regulation.  Aaman, 21 seconds later, tied the score at 71-71 with a tough, bank-in putback, which sent the game to the extra session.

In overtime, Saunders got the scoring going for Wagner with a jumper before FDU's Scott Kingsley hit a driving  layup that tied the game at 73-73. After Aaman split a pair of free throws, MacDonald FDU up one, 75-74, with an aggressive drive followed by a floating one-hander with 1:31 left in overtime. 

From that point, Wagner closed the game out on a 9-4 run in halting its three-game losing streak.

For the game, Wagner shot 35.6 percent while converting 33.3 percent from three-pont range and hitting a season-high, 36-of-48 from the free throw line. The Seahawks outrebounded the Knights for the second time this season, 50-to-34, while converting on 16 second-chance points.

The Seahawks will close out their 2014-2015 home slate on Thursday, February 19 as they welcome Bryant on Senior Night as the Seahawks will honor Burton and Hugo Naurais (Nimes, France / Elan Chalon), who will be playing in their final home contests.
 
 

All-Time Northeast Conference Single-Game Rebounding

Player	Team	Amount	Opponent
1. Carey Scurry	LIU Brooklyn	26	Marist (2/8/83)
2. Earl Brown	Saint Francis U.	25	Central Connecticut (1/13/13)
3. MIKE AAMAN	WAGNER	23	FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (2/14/15)
Carey Scurry	LIU Brooklyn	23	Saint Francis U. (1/21/84)
5. Frantz Pierre-Louis	WAGNER	22	LIU Brooklyn (1/17/96)
Alan Tomidy	LIU Brooklyn	22	LIU Brooklyn (2/8/96)
Emmanuel Adekunle	Saint Francis U.	22	LIU Brooklyn (2/16/98)
8. Ted Taylor	Marist	21	LIU Brooklyn (12/20/83)
Largest Agbejemisin	WAGNER	21	Saint Francis U (1/10/87)
Largest Agbejemisin	WAGNER	21	St. Francis Brooklyn (2/28/87)
Corey Albano	Monmouth	21	LIU Brooklyn (3/6/97)
Ron Robinson	Central Connecticut	21	Mount St. Mary's (2/5/01)
Nigel Wyatte	Wagner	21	Quinnipiac (2/2/04)
Victor Akinyanju	Quinnipiac	21	Mount St. Mary's (2/3/07)
15. Riley Clarida	LIU Brooklyn	20	Fairleigh Dickinson (1/9/82)

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.