Picture Above: Junior guard Corey Henson scores team-high 14 points in Wagner's first NEC win of the season
 
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On The Court: Joey Wahler Interviews Corey Henson After Tonight's NEC Home Victory
One-On-One: Joey Wahler Interviews Head Men's Basketball Coach Bashir Mason
Postgame Press Conference: Head Coach Bashir Mason and Junior Guard Corey Henson

Staten Island, NY - Junior guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) was one of four Seahawks to score in double-figures, as the Wagner men's basketball team defeated the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils, 71-46, on Thursday evening in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener.
 
The 2015-16 NEC regular-season champions improve to 5-6 on the year while the Blue Devils fall to 2-10 on the season.
 
In addition to Henson's double-digit performance, fellow backcourt teammate JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) chipped in 13 points in 23 minutes of action while converting on 5-of-9 from the field. Freshman sharpshooter Blake Francis (Herndon, VA/Westfield) caught fire off-the-bench, tallying 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond-the-arc in his 23 minutes of play. Redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) was the fourth Seahawk to post double-figures, finishing with 12 points, which included 6-of-8 from the free-throw line in his 17 minutes of action.
 
The Blue Devils was led by Mustafa Jones, who poured in a game-best 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor in 32 minutes of play. Khalen Cumberlander, CCSU's second-leading scorer entering the game, finished with nine points on a 4-of-10 shooting night. Austin Nehls, the team's leading scorer at 14.6 ppg entering tonight's contest, was held to just six points on a 1-of-6 shooting display while hitting the lone three-pointer for the visitors.
 
Central Connecticut raced out to an early 8-5 advantage after Jones was able to muscle his way in the way the paint for his sixth point of the contest. 
 
Wagner answered right back, sparking a 13-0 run of its own as the Green & White went a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and 2-of-2 from downtown in taking an 18-8 lead, as Francis capped the spurt with his first trifecta of the contest. The tenacious Seahawk defense, the NEC's top leading scoring defensive team, held CCSU without a field goal during this stretch, as the Blue Devils were 0-of-8 from the floor and 0-of-3 from three-point range.
 
The visitors were able to trim the deficit to as little as seven, 31-24, with 1:07 left to go before halftime as CCSU outscored the Seahawks, 16-13, thanks to a 60.0 percent shooting display, with Cumberlander acting as the catalyst, scoring five of the 16 points. 
 
Wagner closed out the first half scoring six of the final ten points in taking a 35-24 halftime advantage in which the Green & White shot 48.0 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from long range. CCSU was held to just 37.0 percent shooting and didn't connect on a three-pointer attempt in the first half (0-of-5).
 
CCSU opened the second half with a 10-2 run of its own in cutting the lead to just three, 37-34, as Jones and Cumberlander combined for eight of the ten points while the visitors shot 4-of-5 from the floor and held the Seahawks to just one made field goal during the five-minute stretch.
 
Francis ignited the Seahawks' offense over the next 4:46 as he scored nine straight points off three three-pointers while Aaman capitalized from the free-throw line with four freebies that increased the Wagner lead back to double-digits, 50-34, at the 10:05 mark.
 
Wagner didn't allow CCSU to regain its composure, as the Seahawks outscored the visitors, 21-12 over the final 9:21 to pick their first NEC victory of the season.
 
For the game, Wagner shot 45.1 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent from three-point range while holding a 45-21 edge on the boards, which included a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass. CCSU recorded 26 of its 46 points from inside the paint while the Seahawks' bench, for the second straight game, outscored its opponent's reserves, 42-8. In the past two games, the Green & White's bench have outscored its opponents 112-22.
 
Wagner looks to go 2-0 in NEC play for the first time since the 2013-14 season (CCSU & LIU Brooklyn; Jan. 9 & 11, 2014) as they travel to Emmitsburg, MD to take on the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers at Knott Arena on Saturday, December 31. The Mountaineers escaped Brooklyn, NY with a 67-65 victory over the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds on Thursday night.
 
Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on NECFrontRow.com, the official online digital network of the Northeast Conference and Wagner Athletics.
 
 
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