Game Notes: Wagner | Sacred HeartWatch: NECFrontRowLive StatsStaten Island Advance Game Preview Fairfield, CT- Looking for it's first three game win streak of the season, the Wagner College men's basketball team travels to Fairfield, Connecticut as they take on the Sacred Heart University Pioneers on Thursday evening from the William H. Pitt Center. Tonight's contest is the 32nd all-time meeting between the two schools with Wagner holding a 19-12 advantage in the head-to-head series, including winning six of the last seven meetings.
The Seahawks are riding a two-game win streak at the Pitt Center, last being defeated at SHU on January 7th, 2010, a 75-59 decision. These two programs first met on January 17, 1974 in which the Seahawks dropped a 71-70 decision at home. After SHU took a 85-81 win back on February 21st, 1976, the series took a 23-year hiatus until the Pioneers joined the NEC for the 1999-2000 season.
THE COACHESWagner:
Bashir Mason:46-37, Third Season
Overall Record at Wagner: Same
All-time against SHU: 4-0
Sacred Heart:
Anthony LatinaOverall Record: 14-40
Overall Record at Sacred Heart: Same
All-time against WC: 0-3
LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER...- Led by a 21-point outing by senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler), which included the 1,000th of his career, the Wagner men's basketball team earned an 86-55 win over Central Connecticut in front of a crowd of 1,783 at the Spiro Sports Center.
- On ALS Awareness Day, with 10% of all ticket sales benefitting ALS research, each Seahawk player wore a T-Shirt emblazoned with the words "Team Babul" in honor of assistant coach Mike Babul's mother, Joan, who is battling this dreaded disease.
- The 6-0 Burton became the 42nd member of the Wagner 1,000-point club when he drained a three-pointer with 2:46 left to play, which ballooned the Seahawk lead to 30 at 78-48, while drawing a loud ovation from the hometown faithful in the process.
- Wagner placed four players in double figures, as junior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan/Rhode Island) added 13 points, to go with eight rebounds, while the tandem of Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Mt. Zion Prep) and Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic), a pair of 6-3 freshmen, finished with 11 points apiece.
- Freshman guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) played a solid and efficient floor game, chipping in with nine points, while dishing out a game-high six assists, without committing a single turnover in 25 minutes of action.
- In addition to Aaman, sophomore forward Greg Senat (Elmont. NY/Elmont/Marianapolis Prep-CT) and senior forward Hugo Naurais (Nimes, France/Elan Chalon) made their presence felt on the glass, grabbing nine and six rebounds, respectively.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS…- Sacred Heart enters this evening's contest looking to halt a two-game losing skid that started against the Seahawks back on January 29th and most recently, a 77-71 setback at home against the defending Northeast Conference champions, the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers on Saturday.
- In that contest, four Pioneers finished the game scoring in double-figures, led by Tevin Falzon's team-high 19 point and 10 rebound performance.
- Sacred Heart leads the circuit in Scoring Offense at 71.9 ppg as Cane Broome, a two-time NEC Rookie of the Week selection, is the team's leading scorer at 13.6, followed by Evan Kelley at 13.3 and De'Von Barnett at 11.3 ppg, respectively.
- The Pioneers also lead the conference in Field Goal Percentage, shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, led by Barnett's 55.3%
- Senior guard Phil Gaetano is the NEC leader in Assists (5.4 apg) and ranks 37th in the NCAA in this category.
MR. 1000: BURTON BECOMES 42ND MEMBER OF CLUB...- Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) became the 42nd member of the Wagner 1,000-point club when he drained a three-pointer with 2:46 left to play, which ballooned the Seahawk lead to 30 at 78-48, while drawing a loud ovation from the hometown faithful in the process.
- Burton, who continues to lead the NEC in both overall (18.7) and NEC scoring (22.7) average, needs 15 points to move into the 41st spot on the all-time scoring list which is currently held by Marty Ansa, Jr. (1960-1963), who tallied 1,014 points during his Seahawk career.
- In addition, his five rebounds allowed him to break the 200-mark in this category as he now has 203 career boards to his credit.
BURTON TABBED NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK & MBWA HONORABLE MENTION CHOICE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK (and) COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK...- Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) was named Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week for the second consecutive week in an announcement by the league office Monday while also named to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers' Association (MBWA) Honorable Mention Squad announced on Tuesday.
- Burton, who also garnered College Sports Madness NEC Player of the Week accolades, his second straight NEC Player of the Week honor comes after averaging 23.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in a pair of Wagner wins. He shot 50.0 percent from the field, 41.2 percent (7-of-16) from outside the arc and 80.0 percent from the line.
- The 6-0, deep-shooting guard came through in a big way for the Seahawks in Thursday's 75-64 win over Sacred Heart, scoring 21 of his game-high 26 points after intermission as Wagner overcame a six-point second-half deficit in posting the win. Burton hit 8-of-11 shots in the second stanza and 10-of-16 for the game, including 4-of-7 from long range.
- The senior shooting guard came back to record 21 points and five rebounds on Saturday as the Seahawks won for the fourth time in five games, with an 86-55 triumph over Central Connecticut. His final bucket was an NBA-range three-pointer that lifted his career scoring total to exactly 1,000 points, making him the 42nd player in school history to reach this milestone.
LAST FIVE FOR THE SEAHAWKS…- Wagner has been surging that last five games, posting a 4-1 record and an unblemished 3-0 record at the Spiro Sports Center. In the last five, the Green & White have outscored their opponents by 11.6 points (71.2 to 59.6)
- On the boards, the Seahawks have dominated, outmuscling their opponents by a +14.4 margin (44.0 to 29.6)
- Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) has been on fire. He has averaged 22.2 points per game over his last five while connecting on 48.7 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from beyond the arc while connecting for 80.0 percent of his free-throw attempts in 33.2 minutes per contest.
- The fourth-year guard has scored 20 points or more in four out of five contest during this run that has Wagner in a tie for fourth along with Saint Francis U. and Mount St. Mary's.
UP NEXT...- The Seahawks will host NEC-leading St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, February 7th at 4:00 pm from Spiro Sports Center.
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.
