Staten Island, NY - It has been 11 years since the Wagner men's basketball team last played in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament Championship game, and on Tuesday night, the wait comes to an end as the top-seeded Seahawks (22-9; 13-5 NEC) host No. 2-seed Fairleigh Dickinson (17-14; 11-7 NEC) with an automatic NCAA Tournament biid on the line. 

In advancing to their fourth NEC championship game with an 81-65 win over LIU Brooklyn in Saturday's semifinals, the Green & White will look to join the 2003 Seahawks as NEC champions. 

This will mark the second time that Wagner, who was picked sixth in this year's NEC preseasn poll, has faced the Knights in an NEC Tournament championship game as FDU claimed the 2005 title with a 58-52 home win.

Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to to Tuesday's finale after defeating the fifth-seeded  Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, 80-75. For the Knights, it is their first appearance in the championship game in over a decade.

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Mason Named 2015-16 Jim Phelan Northeast Conference Coach Of The Year; Carey & Henson Named To Second Team 

• On the eve of the 2016 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament, the league office has announced that fourth-year head coach Bashir Mason was named the 2015-16 Jim Phelan Coach of the Year.  
• Additionally, junior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) and sophomore wing Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) were named to the All-NEC Second Team.

ON THE CALL:

• The Spiro Sports Center will be packed as the NEC Championship game will be broadcasted to a national audience on ESPN2 and listening on Westwood One Radio (Sirius XM Channel 84). 
• The ESPN2 broadcast team is comprised of longtime announcer Karl Ravech and Hall of Fame coach, Jim Calhoun.
• On the Westwood One broadcast, Gary Cohen and former Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara will have the call.

SCOUTING THE FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS:

• FDU was predicted to finish ninth in this season's NEC preseason poll. 
• The Knights, who ranked No. 24 among Most Improved Team, captured the No. 2 seed in the NEC Tournament thanks to its high-scoring prowess that leads the circuit. 
• Overall, FDU saw an eight-win improvement (finishing 11-7) while improving by nine wins with a 17-14 mark on the season. 
• Fairleigh Dickinson last won the NEC crown in 2005, a 58-52 victory over Wagner. 
• The Knights have four players average in double figures led by Darian Anderson, who paces the squad at 15.0 ppg. 
• Earl Potts, Jr., the newly minted NEC Most Improved Player, has tallied 14.3 ppg in his sophomore campaign while logging 31.7 minutes a contest and shooting 50.6 percent from the field.
• Marques Townes and Stephan Jiggetts have each averaged 11.5 points a contest while each player is logging over 30 minutes a game. 

DID YOU KNOW:

• With two former coaches calling tonight's contest, here is a detailed look at Coach Calhoun's & Coach Cassara's record against Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson, respectively:

JIM CALHOUN VS. WAGNER (5-2)
Nov. 14, 2011,    Wagner 66, UConn 78
Dec. 7, 2002,    Wagner 85, UConn 97
Nov. 27, 1998,    Wagner 46, UConn 111
Feb. 7, 1981,    Northeastern 86, Wagner 90
Jan. 31, 1980    Wagner 71, Northeastern 74
Feb. 10, 1979,    Northeastern 68, Wagner 81
Feb. 11, 1978,    Wagner 90, Northeastern 102

JIM CALHOUN VS. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (8-4)
Dec. 8, 2010,    Fairleigh Dickinson 54, UConn 78
Mar. 12, 1998    Fairleigh Dickinson 85, UConn 93
Feb. 13, 1982,    Northeastern 65, Fairleigh Dickinson 64
Dec. 13, 1980,    Fairleigh Dickinson 71, Northeastern 85
Jan. 18, 1980    Northeastern 69, Fairleigh Dickinson 62
Jan. 13, 1979    Fairleigh Dickinson 67, Northeastern 83
Jan. 14, 1978    Northeastern 65, Fairleigh Dickinson 54
Jan. 15, 1977    Fairleigh Dickinson 58, Northeastern 59
Jan. 16, 1976    Northeastern 46, Fairleigh Dickinson 56
Dec. 7, 1974,    Fairleigh Dickinson 75, Northeastern 63
Dec. 8, 1973,    Northeastern 62, Fairleigh Dickinson 68
Feb. 24, 1973,    Fairleigh Dickinson 50, Northeastern 46

MO CASSARA VS. WAGNER (1-2)
Dec. 4, 2012,    Wagner 52, Hofstra 44
Dec. 6, 2011    Hofstra 43, Wagner 58
Nov. 26, 2010,    Wagner 63, Hofstra 67

MO CASSARA VS. FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON (0-0)



SOMETHING IN COMMON:

• Other than being members of the Northeast Conference, Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson have a few common traits.
• Before enrolling at Drexel University, current Seahawk head coach Bashir Mason was recruited by Greg Herenda when Herenda was an assistant at East Carolina, 
• Fairleigh Dickinson's assistant coach, Dwayne Lee, was a member of the Wagner Seahawks coaching staff during the 2012-13 season.
• Finally, associate head coach Mike Babul and FDU's Winston Smith were teammates at the University of Massachusetts (UMass).

BASHING IN:

• Fourth-year head coach Bashir Mason became just the third Seahawks head coach to garner Coach of the Year honors, the first to do so since the 2002-03 season when Dereck Whittenburg did so after winning the program's first Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament championship.

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME:

• As the top seed, Wagner earned the right to host games all of its NEC games and that was a good thing for the Seahawks, who are now 13-3 at home this season and 54-17 at the Spiro Center over the last five years.
• Sophomore guard Corey Henson is pouring in 14.5 ppg in 16 games at the Spiro Sports Center this season while shooting 44.0 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from three-point range in 31.3 minutes a contest. Henson has also connected at an 82.0 percent clip from the free-throw line. 
• Junior guard Michael Carey is averaging a double-double at home this season, recording 14.0 ppg and 10.9 rpg in 16 games, twelve of which he has started.  The Nassau, Bahamas native is shooting 50.6 percent from the field.
• Under fourth-year head coach, Bashir Mason, the Seahawks are 42-14 at the Spiro Sports Center. 
• In home-NEC games this season, Wagner is 6-3 while outscoring its opponents by a +7.2 margin. 
• All-time, Wagner is 153-79 since the Spiro Sports Center opened on February 20, 1999, in which the Seahawks played Fairleigh Dickinson to a 78-56 victory.

TOP-TEN MOST IMPROVED TEAM:

• After a 10-20 season in 2014-15, the Wagner men's basketball had a drastic turnaround, posting a 20-win season for only the sixth time in program history.
• Additionally, this season's squad were ranked seventh in the NCAA's Most Improved Teams department.
• Tonight's opponent, Fairleigh Dickinson, ranked 24th on the Most Improved List

IF IT'S FREE, IT HAS TO BE GOOD:

• Against Fairleigh Dickinson on February 18, the Wagner men's basketball team converted on 34-of-37 from the free-throw line, a season best. 
• Six players of the 11 players that saw action in the game were perfect from the charity stripe as sophomore guard Corey Henson went 8-for-8 at the line. Junior guard Michael Carey went 7-7 while redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. 
• The Seahawks finished the regular season as the second-best free-throw shooting team at 71.5 percent.

THREE-BALL GALORE:

• The men's basketball team have connected on at least one made three-pointer in 335 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. 

CONTROLLING THE GLASS:

• Wagner has done a tremendous job on the boards this season, leading the Northeast Conference in Rebounding Offense, Rebounding Defense, and Rebounding Margin.
• The Seahawks have outrebounded its opponents in 24 of 31 games this season.
• The Green & White had an impressive nine-game stretch  (December 30-to-January 24) in which they were outrebounding their opposition before falling one carom short of its ninth consecutive game against Sacred Heart back on January 24  
• The Green & White, so far, has outmuscled the opposition by at least 20 caroms in three games this season, most recently at Fairleigh Dickinson on February 18 (43-20). The two previous times were at Robert Morris on January 4 (44-24) and at home against College of Staten Island (50-29), back on November 28. 

PAINTING A PICTURE:

• The Seahawks have tallied 993 of its 2,177 from inside the paint.
• The Green & White have allowed its opponents to score 805 points inside the painted area. 
• Wagner has allowed 20-points or fewer from inside the paint in seven games this season, twice against Central Connecticut when holding the Blue Devils to 20 points on February 20 and 16 back on January 16. 
• Other games include at St. John's [14], vs. Morgan State [18], vs. American [16]),  vs. Mount St. Mary's [14]) and at Bryant [16].
• The most points the Seahawks have allowed inside the paint this season is 40 at Saint Francis U back on January 2.

OVER THE LAST TEN GAMES:

• Wagner is 8-2 in its last ten games, 5-1 at home and 3-1 away from the Spiro Sports Center.
• The Seahawks are outscoring its opponents by 12.3 points (74.7-62.4)
• Wagner holds a +8.0 on the glass (40.7-32.7).
• The Seahawks are shooting 44.2 percent from the field and 33.1 from beyond-the-arc over its last ten games.
• Michael Carey is pouring in 14.8 ppg to go along with 10.3 rpg in 29.3 minutes a contest over his last ten games. Carey has converted on 54.5 percent from the field.
• Corey Henson has chipped in 12.0 points per game while dishing out 2.7 apg and shooting 38.1 from the floor, and a blistering 89.7 from the free-throw line.