Staten Island, NY- Winners of three straight and four of its last five contests, the Wagner men's basketball team begins a two-game homestand, starting Thursday evening against the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds.

Wagner (10-5; 3-1 NEC) is the only NEC school with a winning record through the first 15 games of the season.  The Seahawks sport a perfect 6-0 mark at home this season, as they went 2-0 during the second week of league play. The Seahawks defeated Bryant, 65-56, on CBS Sports Network back on January 7 and earned a wire-to-wire victory at Sacred Heart, 76-59, this past Saturday.

LIU Brooklyn (7-8; 1-3 NEC) dropped a pair of conference home tilts, most recently, a 72-65 setback against the Saint Francis U Red Flash on Saturday.  The Blackbirds are just 3-5 on the season away from the Steinberg Wellness Center, which includes a 1-3 mark in league action. 

• Thursday's contest marks the 100th all-time meeting between Wagner and LIU Brooklyn, with the Blackbirds holding a 55-44 edge in the head-to-head matchup.
• The series, which began on February 9, 1929, with a 37-30 win for the Blackbirds, has recently been dominated by the Seahawks, as Wagner has won four of the last five meetings. 
• Last season, the Green & White swept the season series, defeating LIU Brooklyn, 87-82 at the Spiro Sports Center (broadcasted on ESPN3) and picking up a 60-47 victory in Brooklyn, which clinched a playoff spot for the Seahawks in last year's Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament. 

• The Blackbirds kick off a three-game road stint, beginning tonight on Staten Island.  LIU Brooklyn is currently 7-8 overall and 1-3 in league play while holding a 3-5 record away from the Steinberg Wellness Center. 
• LIU Brooklyn will look to stop a two-game skid, after dropping a pair of home contests to Robert Morris (70-60 on January 7) and most recently, a 72-65 setback to Saint Francis U back on January 9.
• The Blackbirds feature four players that average double-digits, led by redshirt junior forward Jerome Fink, who is third in the league in scoring at 17.1 and first in rebounding at 9.0 rpg.  Fink, who started his collegiate career at Florida International University, ranks fourth in blocks (1.6) and sixth in field goal percentage (55.1%). Over the last two games, the 6-7 forward averaged 19.0 ppg and 11.0 rpg while shooting 55.6 from the floor. 
• Martin Hermannsson, who was named to last season's All-Rookie Team, is showing no signs of a "sophomore slump," averaging 15.2 ppg (5th in the NEC) and 3.8 apg (5th in the NEC) while logging a team-best, 35.9 minutes a contest. Additionally, Hermannsson is shooting 88.2 percent from the free-throw line.
• Junior guard Aakim Saintil, a transfer from the University of South Alabama, is the team's third-leading scorer at 12.6 ppg and has dished out 4.6 apg, good for third among all-NEC players.  Classmate Joel Hernandez has chipped in 10.1 ppg while grabbing 5.3 rpg in 15 games so far this season. 

• Between Wagner and LIU Brooklyn, there are four common opponents that each has faced: Maine, UMass Lowell, Saint Francis U and Robert Morris.
  Wagner went 3-1 against the opponents with the only setback coming at Saint Francis U, 73-65, back on January 2.  
• LIU Brooklyn was 2-2 against these common foes, earning an 84-79 victory over Maine and an 84-72 win against UMass Lowell.  The Blackbirds dropped a pair of home contests to Robert Morris, 70-60, and to the Red Flash, 72-65. 

• All-time, Wagner is 282-309 against teams in the Northeast Conference.
• The 282 wins are the fourth-highest total among the ten-team conference, trailing Robert Morris (337), Fairleigh Dickinson (313), and LIU Brooklyn (284).

WAGNER ALL-TIME VS. NEW YORK DIVISION I SCHOOLS:

• Wagner holds an all-time mark of 159-307 against all New York State Division I-based schools. 
• The 21 schools are Albany, Army, Binghamton, Buffalo, Canisius, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Fordham, Hofstra, Iona, LIU Brooklyn, Manhattan, Marist, Niagara, St. Bonaventure, St. Francis Brooklyn, St. John's, Siena, Stony Brook and Syracuse.
• There are only three schools from the Empire State that Wagner has yet to face in its history; Binghamton, Canisius, and Colgate.

• Wagner is 6-0 at the Spiro Sports Center this season, matching the mark set by the 2011-2012 squad, led by former head coach Dan Hurley when his Seahawks went 6-0. 
• Under head coach  Bashir Mason , the Seahawks are 35-11 at the Spiro Sports Center. 
• All-time, Wagner is 146-76 since the Spiro Sports Center opened on February 20, 1999, in which the Seahawks played Fairleigh Dickinson to a 78-56 victory. 
• This season, Wagner is outscoring their opponents by 11.5 points (71.3-to-59.8) while holding a +9.7 on the glass (41.2-to-31.5). 
• Despite shooting just 28.4 percent from the outside, Wagner has found a way to make the most of their chances from the charity stripe, converting 77.9 of its attempts from the line.  
• Sophomore guard  Corey Henson  (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) is one of three Seahawks to average double-figures at the Spiro Sports Center.  
• The second-year guard is averaging 15.2 ppg while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from long range. Additionally, Henson is 90.5 percent from the free-throw line (19-of-21). 
• Redshirt senior guard  Dwaun Anderson  (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay [Michigan State]) is averaging 29.7 minutes a contest at home while also shooting 90.0 percent from the free-throw line (27-of-30). Anderson, who missed all but one game last season, has tallied 13.0 ppg at home this season to go along with 5.5 rpg and a team-leading nine blocks, including a career-high four rejections against Bryant on January 7.
• Junior guard  Michael Carey  (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) has found a new "home" on Staten Island. In six games this season, Carey is averaging a double-double, with 11.2 ppg and a team-leading 10.7 rpg.  
• The talented 6-5 guard set a new career-high on January 7 against Bryant, grabbing 15 rebounds in the 65-56 victory over the Bulldogs. 12 of those rebounds came on the defensive end. 

FIRST & TEN: 

• With its 76-59 road victory at Sacred Heart this past Saturday (1/9/16), Wagner became the first Northeast Conference (NEC) school to post double-figures in wins this season, as the Seahawks now stand at 10-5; 3-1 in the league.
• Wagner has now matched its win total from last season in just 15 games.
• "We're playing well, and it makes our guys feel good about themselves," said Wagner head coach Bashir Mason. "They see the game plans working and the hard work getting results. That helps with everything. But we still have a long way to go."

NATIONAL STATISTICS:

• Through games 1/12/16, Wagner ranks among the top-50 in the NCAA in four statistical categories.
• The Seahawks are 12th in the nation in Offensive Rebounds Per Game, averaging 14.60 offensive caroms a contest. 
• Wagner is 29th in Turnovers Forced, forcing 15.87 mishaps per contest, which ranks third in the conference.
• The Green & White is 38th in both Rebounding Margin (+6.6) and Scoring Defense (64.5 ppg). 
• Individually, sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) ranks 19th in the nation in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage at 46.7 percent. 

OVER THE LAST TEN GAMES:

• Wagner is 7-3; 4-3 away from Spiro Sports Center and 3-0 at home
• The Seahawks are shooting 75.7 percent from the free-throw line.
• Have outrebounded their opponents, 380-to-325 (38.0-to-32.5)
• Averaging 7.3 steals a contest over its last ten games.
• Have outscored their opponents by 13 points in each half (297-to-284 in the first half; 367-to-355 in the second half).
• Junior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) is nearly averaging a double-double, scoring 10.3 ppg and grabbing 9.0 rpg while shooting 90.7 percent from the free-throw line.
• Redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay [Michigan State]) is leading the way, scoring 12.0 ppg in his last ten games while logging a team-leading 32.7 minutes a contest. Anderson is shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 85.0 percent from the charity stripe. 
• Sophomore guard Corey Henson has tallied 11.6 ppg over his last ten games while shooting 49.1 percent from three-point range (27-of-55).

GIVING THE TEAM A LEG-UP:

• Freshman guard Devin Liggeons (Philadelphia, PA/Imhotep Charter) made the most of his time on the court at Sacred Heart back on January 9th.
• The first-year guard was summoned by fourth-year head coach Bashir Mason to replace Michael Carey. 
• With forty-two seconds remaining in the contest, Liggeons, who averaged 13.5 points per game along with 5.0 rebound and 4.0 assists in his final season at Imhotep, recorded his first career points after making the back-end of a two-shot free throw chance.
• After a missed jumper from SHU's Jermaine Ukaegbu, senior reserve guard Bruce Brittingham (Trenton, NJ/Perkiomen School) fired a pass the length of the court in which Liggeons soared up for the two-hand slam, much to the pleasure of the Wagner bench. 

YOU CAN DO IT, BRUCE:

• Senior guard Bruce Brittingham (Trenton, NJ/Perkiomen School) saw his first action since joining the Wagner men's basketball team. 
• After replacing sophomore guard Corey Henson with fifty seconds left in regulation, Brittingham made an immediate impact while finding his name on the stat sheet.
• After SHU's Jermaine Ukaegbu had missed fired on his jumper attempt, Brittingham fired a deep pass the length the length of the court to a wide-open Devin Liggeons, who was able to flush home the two-hand slam dunk.
• Brittingham is no stranger to long-range passes but was in the unique position of throwing one instead of intercepting it.
• The senior guard was a four-year member of the Wagner football team, enjoying a stellar senior season campaign, leading Seahawks in tackles with 61, 50 of which coming in a solo effort while recording one interception on the season. 

THREE-BALL GALORE:

• The men's basketball team have connected on at least one made three-pointer in 319 straight contests. 
• The last time the Seahawks didn't convert a three-pointer was back on February 28, 2004, at home against NEC-foe, Mount St. Mary's in which the Green & White was held to 0-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.

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