Staten Island, NY - With the final two games of the 2015-16 Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season to be held at the Spiro Sports Center, the Wagner men's basketball team, will have its first chance at locking up its second regular season championship, as the Seahawks welcome the Saint Francis U Red Flash to Staten Island on Thursday evening.

The Seahawks, with last weekend's sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson (94-74) and CCSU (83-57),  now maintain sole possession of first place with an 11-5 record, and can clinch the NEC regular season title with a win over Saint Francis U this evening. The Green & White is the only school guaranteed a quarterfinal home game at this point.

Wagner is vying for its second NEC regular season title, the first coming back during the 2002-03 season when the Jermaine Hall led Seahawks finished with a 14-4 league mark and a 21-11 overall record en route to the NEC Tournament crown. 

For the Red Flash, they will look to halt a three-game losing skid after falling to both Brooklyn schools (St. Francis Brooklyn 70-58 and LIU Brooklyn 94-89 in ot) at home this past week. There are viable paths for FDU and Saint Francis U to earn the top seed in the NEC Tournament, but it would require each team to sweep its final two games, Wagner to lose its last two games and get help along the way. Ironically, the Red Flash were picked eighth and the Knights ninth in the NEC preseason poll. 

 

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2015-16 Northeast Conference (NEC) Standings (through games 2/20/16)
School	Overall	Pct.	NEC Record	Pct.	Streak
1. WAGNER *	18-9	.667	11-5	.688	Won, 3
2. Mount St. Mary's *	13-16	.448	10-6	.625	Won, 1
Sacred Heart *	11-16	.407	10-6	.625	Won, 3
4. Fairleigh Dickinson *	13-14	.481	9-7	.563	Lost, 3
Saint Francis U *	13-14	.481	9-7	.563	Lost, 3
St. Francis Brooklyn *	13-16	.448	9-7	.563	Won, 2
7. LIU Brooklyn *	14-13	.519	8-8	.500	Won, 1
8. Robert Morris *	9-20	.310	7-9	.438	Lost, 1
9. Bryant	7-22	.241	4-12	.250	Lost, 10
10. Central Connecticut	4-23	.148	3-13	.188	Lost, 1

BY THE NUMBERS: 
1:  Wagner win gives the Seahawks its second-ever NEC Regular Season Title
50: Season-high first half points recorded against Fairleigh Dickinson (2/18/16)
85.3: Amount of points Wagner is averaging over its last three games (All road wins) 
94: Season-high total points for the 2015-16 Seahawks set at Fairleigh Dickinson (2/18/16)
331: Straight game that the Seahawks have made a three-point basket.

• Thursday evening's contest is the 67th all-time meeting between Wagner and Saint Francis U with the Red Flash holding a 34-32 edge in the head-to-head series. 
• These two teams opened up Northeast Conference (NEC) play against each other back on January 2 in Loretto, PA where the Red Flash managed to hold on to a 73-65 victory in the first installment. 
• This is the second time in a three-year span that the Seahawks and Red Flash are playing in the final week of the regular season, ironically, two years ago to the day on Staten Island (Wagner won 74-45).

• NEC Tournament tickets are now on sale. Fans can order by calling 718-420-4039 or online at wagnerathletics.com/tickets.
• Price are $10 for adults, $5 for students and children between the ages of 5 and 18. 

• On Feb. 18 at Fairleigh Dickinson, the Wagner Seahawks entered the break with a 50-39 halftime lead. It marked a season-high for points in one-half, surpassing the 44 points put up in the November 21 home contest. 

 

• On February 18 at Fairleigh Dickinson, junior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) and sophomore guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) each posted double-doubles against the Knights. 
• For Carey, it was his team-leading 11th double-double of the season as he finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
• Cooper, on the other hand, posted his first career double-double performance as he finished with a season-high 12 points to go along with a career-best 12 caroms.
• Carey and Cooper are the first pair of Seahawks to both post double-doubles in the same game since Mark Porter and Durell Vinson accomplished the feat back on February 16, 2008, at home against Monmouth. Porter finished with 10 points and ten rebounds while Vinson had 19 points and 19 rebounds. 

• This season, Wagner has tallied 902 first half points while averaging 33.4 points in the opening frame.
• The Seahawks defense is outscoring their opponents by a +3.1 margin (33.4 to 30.3) in the beginning stanza. 
• The Seahawks are 17-1 on the season when leading at the break. 

• Redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay) advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 State Farm Dark Horse Dunker contest. (Vote Here)

• The Seahawks have the most home wins in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and best record at 9-3 this season. 
• Sophomore guard Corey Henson is pouring in 15.0 ppg in 12 games at the Spiro Sports Center this season while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from three-point range in 31.2 minutes a contest.
• Junior guard Michael Carey is averaging a double-double at home this season, recording 12.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg in 12 games, nine of which he has started.  The Nassau, Bahamas native is shooting 47.3 percent from the field.
• Under fourth-year head coach, Bashir Mason, the Seahawks are 38-14 at the Spiro Sports Center. 
• All-time, Wagner is 149-79 since the Spiro Sports Center opened on February 20, 1999, in which the Seahawks played Fairleigh Dickinson to a 78-56 victory.

• A vital key to Wagner's success is the play of its reserves. In 27 games, the Seahawks bench has amassed 682 points (25.3 ppg) while holding its opponent's reserves to just 436 points (16.1 ppg).
• In nine games off the bench, Romone Saunders has tallied 11.0 ppg while shooting 50.7 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from the outside. 
• Michael Carey is nearly averaging a double-double in a reserve role, as in eight games the Nassau, Bahamas product is scoring at an 11.4 clip while pulling down 9.0 rebounds a contest in just 24.9 minutes in a reserve role. 

• Michael Carey has converted 23-of-25 from the charity stripe in the final minutes
• JoJo Cooper has hit 60.0% percent of his field goal attempts in the last five minutes. 
• The Seahawks are shooting 44.5% from the field compared to just 27.0 percent from beyond-the-arc.