Staten Island, NY - The Wagner men's basketball team welcomes the Robert Morris University Colonials to the Spiro Sports Center to conclude the third week of Northeast Conference (NEC) action. Both teams will be looking to bounce back after suffering losses on Thursday night. Despite leading at halftime, the Green & White was defeated by the Bryant University Bulldogs, 77-66, at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, RI. Senior guard
Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) notched his 19th career double-double, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds. In a Western Pennsylvania rivalry contest, the Colonials fell to Saint Francis U, 77-57 at the Sewall Center. Matty McConnell led three in double-figures with 15 points.
All-Time Series History: Saturday afternoon's affair marks the 70th all-time meeting between the two schools, with Robert Morris holding a 43-26 edge in the head-to-head series. Both Wagner and Robert Morris are charter members of the Northeast Conference (NEC), joining the league during the prior to the start of the 1981-82 season. The first-ever meeting took place back on February 13, 1982, in Moon Township as the Colonials defeated the Seahawks, 84-70, which started a five-game winning streak for RMU. Last season, the Seahawks took all three meetings, which included eliminating the 2015 NEC Champions in the quarterfinals, 59-50, at the Spiro Sports Center. At home, Wagner is 20-13 against the Colonials, having won three of the last four contests.
The Coaches: Wagner's
Bashir Mason, the 2015-16 Jim Phelan NEC Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Wagner Seahawks, owning a career record of 77-64. Mason looks to even his record against RMU, as he currently is 4-5 all-time against the Colonials. Robert Morris' Andrew Toole, who is in his seventh season as head coach of the Colonials, sports a career mark of 126-99. Toole is 8-6 all-time against Wagner.
Scouting The Robert Morris University Colonials: Entering Saturday's contest with the Seahawks, the Colonials are 6-12 and 2-3 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play after falling to the Saint Francis U Red Flash, 77-57 on Thursday night at the Sewall Center. On the year, two Colonials are averaging double-figures, led by Isaiah Gills, who is tallying 14.9 ppg while logging a team-high 30.4 minutes a contest.
Kavon Stewart is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.1 ppg while dishing out 3.6 assists per contest. As a whole, Robert Morris is shooting 38.6 percent from the field, 29.9 percent from beyond-the-arc and 63.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Carey Tabbed NEC Co-Player Of The Week: Wagner senior guard
Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College] was named NEC Co-Player of the Week, along with LIU Brooklyn's Jerome Frink, the Northeast Conference (NEC) announced on Monday. For Carey, this marks the third time in his Seahawk career that he's claimed Player of the Week honors, with the previous two times coming last season (February 1, 2016/February 29, 2016). This marks the second time this year that a Wagner player has claimed the weekly distinction, as redshirt senior forward
Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) earned the season's first NEC Player of the Week honor following his impressive performance in the victory at then-nationally ranked UConn. Carey comes off an outstanding week for the Seahawks that saw him average 21.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and hit all 14 of his free throw attempts, while shooting 50.0 percent from the floor. He scored 21 points and grabbed a career and NEC single-game season-high 22 rebounds in a one-point setback to first place
Fairleigh Dickinson last Thursday, in a game that was nationally broadcast on
CBS Sports Network. In doing so, the versatile 6'5" Carey became just the sixth player in NEC history with at least 22 boards in a game and one of seven NEC players in the last 20 years to finish with 20 points and 20 rebounds in a contest. In a 75-64 win over Sacred Heart on Saturday, Carey scored all 21 of his points in the second half as the Seahawks broke open a close game in the final five minutes. For the season, the Nassau, Bahamas product is averaging 11.8 ppg and ranks second in the NEC with 8.8 rpg on the year. In conference-only contests (four games), the senior guard is hitting for 14.3 ppg. on 46.6 percent shooting from the floor, while pulling down 11.0 rebounds a contest in 32.5 minutes per game. In addition, Carey is converting on 93.3 percent (14-of-15) from the free throw line.
Henson Closing In On 1,000 Points: Junior guard
Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) is closing in on becoming the 43rd member of the 1,000 career points club, as he enters the Bryant contest with 925 career points. After averaging 9.1 ppg in his freshman year (273), Henson has netted a total 613 points between his sophomore and 12 games of his junior campaign, which translates to 13.3 ppg over that span. The last member to join the Wagner 1,000 point club was guard Marcus Burton ['14].
Block Party: Against Bryant (1/12/17), redshirt sophomore forward
AJ Sumbry (East Windsor, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep [Quinnipiac]) swatted away a game-high five shots, three of which coming in the second half of action. The five rejections are the most in a single-game since fellow teammate
Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) denied five shots against Robert Morris in the 2016 Northeast Conference (NEC) quarterfinals (3/2/16). Sumbry now ranks second in the conference, behind SFU's Josh Nebo, denying 1.3 shots a contest. Sumbry has 19 rejections on the season.
Senat Recognized By Alma Mater: Senior
Greg Senat (Elmont, NY/Elmont [Marianapolis Prep]), a three-year member of the Wagner men's basketball team, who helped the Green & White claim the 2016 Northeast Conference regular season title and the school's first-ever postseason win, before earning a spot at right tackle on the Seahawks' football team last fall, has been recognized by Marianapolis Prep (CT) as the school's "Alumni Athlete of the Month," announced 1/13/17.
Carey Posts Fifth-Best Rebounding Total In NEC History: Against the defending league champions, the
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (1/5/17), senior guard
Michael Carey grabbed 22 rebounds, tying him for the fifth-most ever in a single-NEC contest.
ALL-TIME NORTHEAST CONFERENCE SINGLE-GAME REBOUNDING
Controlling The Glass: Wagner has outrebounded its opponents in 11 of 15 games this season. Against local rival, Staten Island (12/22), the Green & White outmuscled the Dolphins by a staggering 32, 58-26 in its 52-point victory (94-42). Twice this season, the Seahawks and their opponents grabbed the same amount of boards, back on Nov. 30 @ UMass (31) and most recently against Sacred Heart (1/7/17) (37). Last season, Wagner outrebounded its opposition by double-figures in 17 games.
Bench Pressing: In Wagner's 94-42 victory over Division III member, Staten Island, 70 of the Seahawks' 94 points came from its bench, led by freshman guard
Connor Ferrell's game-high 20 points. In the NEC home opener against Central Connecticut (12/29), the Green & White outscored the Blue Devils' reserves, 42-8, running its two game total to 112-22. On the year, Wagner's reserves have averaged 24.5 ppg while holding its opponents to just 17.7 a contest (367-266).
Halftime Dominance: When leading at the half under fifth-year
Bashir Mason, the Seahawks have posted an overall record of 59-11. This season, the Green & White have entered the intermission with the lead in nine of the thirteen games.
Hitting The 3 Consecutively: The men's basketball team has connected on at least one made three-pointer in 383 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 from three. Against Central Connecticut (12/29), the Seahawks made a season-high 11 three-pointers.
Home Cooking: Including the 2016-17 season, Wagner is 57-22 at home after finishing the 2015-16 campaign last season with a 13-4 mark at home.
Spiro Sports Center Fact: Wagner's home win over Sacred Heart 1/7/17 was the 150th for the Seahawks since the Spiro Sports Center was opened in on February 20, 1999 in which the Seahawks played Fairleigh Dickinson to a 78-56 victory. Wagner has posted a 150-78 (.658) mark in the 2,100-seat facility. Under fifth-year head coach
Bashir Mason, the Seahawks are 45-19 (.703) at Spiro.
Painting A Picture: Wagner has scored 422 of its 1026 total points from inside the paint, coming out to 41.1 percent of its total scoring. For the second time this season, the Seahawks scored 40 points in the paint at Bryant (1/12/17), matching the production set on the road at American (11/22). Seven times this year, Wagner has scored at least 30 or more points from downlow after scoring 36 at home against Sacred Heart (1/7/17).
Second Chances: Against Staten Island on 12/22, Wagner scored 21 of its 94 points which were credited to second chances. The Seahawks limited the Dolphins to just six second-chance points. Against defending NEC champions, FDU (1/5/17), Wagner held a 21-4 advantage on second chance opportunities. For the season, Wagner is averaging 14.2 points off second chances while their opponents are tallying 8.4 points (213-126).
Up Next For Wagner: The Seahawks hit the road for a pair of conference tilts, beginning on Thursday, January 19, as they travel across the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn to square off against the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds before concluding the road voyage in Fairfield, CT on January 21 at Sacred Heart.
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