Staten Island, NY -  The Wagner men's basketball team concludes its mini two-game homestand on Saturday when the Seahawks welcome the Sacred Heart University Pioneers to the Spiro Sports Center in a 4:00 p.m. tip.

Wagner is 1-2 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play but just a bounce or two away from being undefeated as the Seahawks have dropped consecutive one-point games, at Mount St. Mary's on December 31 (57-56) and at home to defending league champion Fairleigh Dickinson (70-69) on Thursday night on CBS Sports Network. Sacred Heart snapped a four-game losing streak on Thursday when the Pioneers defeated in-state rival, Central Connecticut, 64-62.

All-Time Series History: The Green & White lead the all-time head-to-head matchup, 20-14, despite splitting last season's contests, in which each team won on the other's home court. At home, Wagner is 11-6 vs. SHU, having won three of the last five meetings at the Spiro Sports Center. 

The Coaches: Wagner's Bashir Mason is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Wagner Seahawks, owning a career record of 76-63. Mason is 5-2 all-time against Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart's Anthony Latina, who is in his fourth season, enter's Saturday's contest with a 38-71 overall record and is 23-32 mark in conference tilts, is 2-4 all-time against the Seahawks. 

Scouting The Sacred Heart University Pioneers: Entering Saturday's contest, the Pioneers are 6-10; 1-2 in NEC play. Sacred Heart stopped its four-game losing streak after defeating in-state conference rival, Central Connecticut, 64-62, in New Britain on Thursday evening.  In that contest, Quincy McKnight's two free throws with 0:34 remaining proved to be the difference. McKnight finished with 23 points while Joseph Lopez ended the contest with 12 points and 10 rebounds. On the year, the Pioneers are led by Quincy McKnight, who is scoring 18.6 ppg. The sophomore ranks among the top-20 in rebounding at 5.3 rpg.  Lopez, is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.9 ppg and is the club's leading rebounder at 8.7 caroms a contest. 

A Win Against Sacred Heart Means For Wagner: Wagner will improve to 2-2 in Northeast Conference and 21-14 all-time against the Pioneers. 

Henson Closing In On 1,000 Points: Junior guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) is closing in on pace to become the 43rd member of the 1,000 career points club as he enters the SHU contest with 886 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].

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.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB: The Seahawks have posted at least one double-double in seven of their 13 games this season. Senior guard Michael Carey has three on the season, the most recent coming against FDU (1/5/17: 21 points, 22 rebounds).

Controlling The Glass: Wagner has outrebounded its opponents in 10 of 13 games this season.  Against local rival, Staten Island (12/22), the Green & White outmuscled the Dolphins by a staggering margin of 32 (58-26) in its 52-point victory (94-42).  Against UMass (11/30), both teams grabbed identical 31 caroms.  Last season, Wagner had outrebounded its opposition by double-figures in 17 games. 

Halftime Dominance: When leading at the half under fifth-year Bashir Mason, the Seahawks have posted an overall record of 58-10. 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 381 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.

Up Next For Wagner: Wagner returns to the New England region on Thursday, January 12 as the Seahawks square off against the Bryant University Bulldogs before returning home on January 14 when the Green & White hosts Robert Morris.