Pictured Above (Left to Right): Junior Guard Michael Carey & Sophomore Guard Corey Henson (Photos Courtesy of Dave Saffran)
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)Home Cookin: Wagner College defeats Central Connecticut 70-48, runs Spiro Center season record to 7-1 (Cormac Gordon, Staten Island Advance)
Postgame Press Conference: Head Coach Bashir Mason & Sophomore Guard Corey HensonStaten Island, NY – Sophomore guard
Corey Henson's (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) game-high 18 points, along with junior guard
Michael Carey's (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) sixth double-double of the season, propelled Wagner to a 70-48 victory over the Central Connecticut Blue Devils in Northeast Conference (NEC) action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Wagner improves to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in league play while the Blue Devils falter to 1-16 and 0-6 in conference action.
Henson converted on 8-of-11 from the field in his 28 minutes of play, and added three assists and three steals. while Carey hit on 5-of-6 from the floor in 31 minutes of action. Sophomore guard
Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac [Mt. Zion Prep]) notched his third straight double-figure scoring game, and fourth in his last five, finishing with 13 points in 28 minutes, while dishing out a team-high five helpers and grabbing five rebounds.
Central Connecticut was led by Brandon Peel, who was the lone Blue Devil in double-figures, finishing with 15 points to go with a team-leading eight rebounds in defeat.
The Green & White, who are now 7-1 this season at the Spiro Center, opened the contest on a 12-0 run over the first 8:09 as Wagner converted 4-of-8 from the field while holding the Blue Devils to a 0-of-8 shooting start. After CCSU converted a pair of buckets to make it 12-4, the Seahawks reeled off 10 unanswered in building a 22-4 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half. The run was capped off by a mid-range jumper from Henson, after receiving a feed from redshirt-senior forward
Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]).
The Blue Devils responded in the form of a 14-4 outburst over the next 5:10, which trimmed Wagner's lead to just eight, 26-18, a run that was capped off when Austin Nehls completed a traditional three-point play. Carey scored the final bucket of the first half, as the athletic 6-5 guard soared to the hoop, giving Wagner a 28-18 lead at the break. The Seahawks shot 42.9 percent from the field in the opening frame, despite being held to just 1-of-9 shooting from the outside.
CCSU opened the second half with a 17-11 run, capped by a Jahlil Nails three-pointer that cut the deficit to four, 39-35. The Seahawks countered with a 20-5 run of their own over the next 7:49, and when Henson drained a three-pointer with 5:07 left to go, Wagner was in command, 59-42. Central was able to muster just three made field goals the rest of the way as Wagner closed the game scoring 11 of the game's final 19 points en route to the 70-48 victory.
The Seahawks outshot CCSU 50.8 percent to 35.2 percent and held a comfortable +15 margin on the boards (42-27). The Green & White tallied a season-high 46 points in the paint while allowing just 16 from CCSU and received a huge contribution from its reserves, outscoring the Blue Devils bench, 26-9.
Wagner will make the short trip across the Verrazano Bridge on Thursday evening, January 21, as they pay a visit to the 2015 NEC runner-ups, the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers. Tip-off from the Pope Physical Education Center is scheduled for 7:00 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.
