Pictured Above: R-Junior forward AJ Sumbry (Credit: Dave Saffran)
Staten Island, NY – Entering with its best start to a season under sixth-year head coach,
Bashir Mason, the Wagner men's basketball team (4-1) will look for its fourth straight victory as they begin a three-game homestand, beginning on Friday evening when the Seahawks welcome the Fairfield University Stags of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in a 7:00 p.m. tip.
Seahawk Three-Pointers:
- Wagner is 4-1 for only the third time in the last ten seasons. The last time the Green & White started 4-1 was in 2011-12 under former head coach Dan Hurley, when the program finished with the most wins ever, concluding the year at 25-6. Coach Mason was an assistant on the coaching staff.
- The four wins in November are tied for the most under Coach Mason, matching the 2013-14 squad that finished November 4-4 en route to a 19-12 overall record.
- Friday's matchup with Fairfield is the first of two contests vs. MAAC opponents this season as Wagner will travel to Lawrenceville, NJ to tangle with the Rider University Broncs on December 16.
Last Time Out: at Hartford (November 26, 2017):
- Sophomore guard Blake Francis tossed in 17 points, while junior guard Devin Liggeons and senior guard JoJo Cooper added 14 and 13 points, respectively, to carry the Wagner men's basketball team to its third straight victory, a convincing 72-50 wire-to-wire triumph at Hartford on Sunday afternoon.
- The Green & White harassed the Hawks into 27.5 percent shooting (14-of-50) overall, while limiting them to just 15 percent (3-of-20) accuracy from three-point range.
- Hartford rallied to draw within 32-28 at the intermission and the Hawks hung tough early in the second half. When Jason Dunne knocked down a three-pointer with 15:43 to play, Wagner's lead was down to one at 37-36.
- A layup by freshman forward Nigel Jackson at the 13:49 mark, made it a 39-36 game and ignited a 13-3 run over the next 5:56, capped by a jumper from graduate student forward Nick Madray, that gave the Seahawks a comfortable 52-39 lead that the Seahawks didn't surrender.
- Francis' 17-point outing came on 6-of-12 shooting, which included 3-of-6 marksmanship from beyond the arc. Cooper, who was coming off of a career-high 20-point outing in Tuesday's win over CSI, added a team-high eight assists, along with five rebounds, to go with his 13-point effort while Liggeons pulled down a game-high six rebounds.
All-Time Series Against Fairfield:
- Friday contest between Wagner and Fairfield is just the seventh all-time meeting between the schools with the Stags holding a 5-1 edge in the head-to-head series.
- Wagner's lone win came back on December 18, 2015, when the Seahawks traveled to the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT and defeated the Stags, 76-64.
The Coaches:
- Wagner's Bashir Mason is in his sixth year on the sidelines and holds a 91-70 overall record. Coach Mason is 1-1 lifetime against the Stags.
- Sydney Johnson is in his eighth season at Fairfield. Coach Johnson holds a career coaching record of 159-165. Before taking over the head-coaching reigns at Fairfield, Johnson was the head coach at Princeton for four seasons, compiling a 66-53 record at his alma mater. Coach Johnson is 3-1 all-time against Wagner.
Scouting The Fairfield University Stags:
- Fairfield enters this evening's contest with a 3-3 overall record. The Stags jumped out with back-to-back home wins, over Pennsylvania (80-72) and Loyola (64-52) before the Stags went on to drop their next two contests, at No. 18 Purdue (106-64), and then in the opener of the Wright State Tournament on November 24 when they lost to the University of Jacksonville (92-84).
- Fairfield rebounded with a 75-64 victory over Gardner-Webb on day two of the tournament, as three Stags finished in double figures, led by Tyler Nelson, who dropped in a game-high 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field while dishing out four assists in playing the full forty minutes.
- Fairfield was edged on the final day of the Wright State Tournament to the host Raiders, 57-56. Jesus Cruz led the way with 15 points while adding five rebounds. Ferron Flavors Jr., added 14 points off the bench.
- The Stags are playing two NEC schools this season, beginning with Friday's contest against Wagner. Following a trip to Houston on December 6, the Stags will travel to Brooklyn on December 10 to take on LIU Brooklyn.
- Nelson and Flavors Jr., are the lone Stags averaging double-figures, 19.7 and 12.0 ppg, respectively.
- Matija Milin is the team's leading rebounder at 6.2 caroms per contest.
All-Time Against The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC):
- Against the 11 current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Wagner is 95-215 all time.
- The lone MAAC school the Seahawks haven't face in their history is Canisius.
| School |
Record |
Last Meeting |
Win/Loss |
| Canisius |
--- |
--- |
--- |
| FAIRFIELD |
1-5 |
11/19/16 |
Lost, 70-64 (ot) |
| Iona |
5-30 |
12/3/02 |
Lost, 87-81 |
| Manhattan |
10-39 |
11/14/07 |
Lost, 69-56 |
| Marist |
11-28 |
2/25/97 |
Lost, 62-60 |
| Monmouth |
25-35 |
12/6/16 |
Lost, 81-71 |
| Niagara |
1-1 |
2/16/62 |
Lost, 71-63 |
| Quinnipiac |
16-13 |
2/2/13 |
Lost, 74-69 |
| Rider |
5-18 |
11/26/16 |
Lost, 70-67 |
| Saint Peter's |
16-35 |
12/11/10 |
Lost, 51-50 |
| Siena |
5-11 |
12/30/96 |
Lost, 80-62 |
| TOTALS |
99-215 |
|
|
Coach Mason Approaching The Century Mark For Career Wins:
- In Wagner's 107-64 home victory over local rival, the College of Staten Island Dolphins on November 21, sixth-year head coach Bashir Mason recorded his 90th career victory.
- Coach Mason, who is currently the sixth youngest head coach in Division I, is 91-70 during his tenure on Grymes Hill.
- He is just the fifth Wagner head coach to post 90 or more career victories and the third in the Division I Era of the program.
| Wagner Coach |
Career Record |
Years Coached |
| Herb Sutter |
352-252 |
1937-1965 |
| Tim Capstraw |
117-164 |
1989-1999 |
| Chester Sellitto |
97-89 |
1965-1972 |
| Mike Deane |
95-113 |
2003-2010 |
| Bashir Mason |
91-70 |
2012-present |
| Neil Kennett |
81-115 |
1982-1989 |
| Dereck Whittenburg |
67-50 |
1999-2003 |
| P.J. Carlesimo |
65-93 |
1976-1982 |
| Dan Hurley |
38-23 |
2010-2012 |
| Bill Keegan |
29-25 |
1934-1937 |
| John C. Goodwin |
26-73 |
1972-1976 |
| Elmer Ripley |
23-22 |
1922-1925 |
| Ray Kirschmeyer |
16-36 |
1929-1934 |
| Joseph Flotten |
10-4 |
1925-1926 |
| John Futchs |
8-10 |
1926-1927 |
| John Morris |
7-19 |
1927-1929 |
| Erastus LaRue Ely |
1-4 |
1920-1921 |
| Walter B. Peterson |
1-6 |
1921-1922 |
Third Time At 4-1 Might Be The Charm:
- For the third time in the last ten seasons, the Seahawks are 4-1 after the first five games to kick off a season.
- It marks the first time since the 2011-12 campaign in which they have accomplished the feat, in which that squad went on to set the single-season program mark for wins in the program under then head coach Dan Hurley. Coach Mason was an assistant on that staff.
| Season |
Started |
Ending Record |
Coached By |
| 2007-08 |
3-2 |
23-8 |
Mike Deane |
| 2008-09 |
4-1 |
16-14 |
Mike Deane |
| 2009-10 |
0-5 |
16-14 |
Mike Deane |
| 2010-11 |
3-2 |
13-17 |
Dan Hurley |
| 2011-12 |
4-1 |
25-6 |
Dan Hurley |
| 2012-13 |
2-3 |
19-12 |
Bashir Mason |
| 2013-14 |
3-2 |
19-12 |
Bashir Mason |
| 2014-15 |
2-3 |
10-20 |
Bashir Mason |
| 2015-16 |
3-2 |
23-11 |
Bashir Mason |
| 2016-17 |
2-3 |
16-14 |
Bashir Mason |
| 2017-18 |
4-1 |
??? |
Bashir Mason |
| TOTALS |
30-25 |
169-140 |
|
Protecting The Home Turf:
- Over the past five seasons, Wagner is 20-10 in non-conference home games.
- Overall, the Seahawks are 24-15 at home over the past two years.
Three Ball Galore:
- Since the inception of the three-point line in college basketball was instituted during the 1986-1987 season, a total of 29 Division I programs have made at least one three-pointer in over 400 consecutive games.
- Wagner has made a three-pointer in 402 straight contests.
- The men's basketball team has connected on at least one made three-pointer in 402 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.
(Through Games Played November 29, 2017)
| School |
# of Games |
Last Time Program Didn't Make A 3-PT FG |
| Kentucky |
1,020 |
--- |
| UNLV |
1,012 |
--- |
| Vanderbilt |
1,006 |
--- |
| Arkansas |
948 |
|
| Western Kentucky |
944 |
3/13/87 vs. West Virginia |
| Oakland |
910 |
1/30/88 vs. Wayne State |
| Texas |
897 |
12/18/90 @ UC Santa Barbara |
| Princeton |
880 |
--- |
| Marshall |
848 |
2/27/89 vs. Appalachian State |
| Baylor |
841 |
--- |
| Cornell |
806 |
--- |
| Tennessee State |
791 |
--- |
| Creighton |
789 |
2/20/93 @ Illinois State |
| Middle Tennessee |
709 |
1/14/95 vs. Murray State |
| Texas San Antonio |
709 |
|
| Temple |
708 |
2/1/96 vs. Massachusetts |
| UCLA |
694 |
2/3/00 vs. Stanford |
| Georgia State |
684 |
2/18/95 vs. Stetson |
| Oregon |
681 |
2/6/97 vs. Washington |
| Boston University |
658 |
2/10/96 vs. Vermont |
| West Virginia |
603 |
--- |
| Cleveland State |
602 |
|
| Northern Iowa |
569 |
2/3/00 vs. Southern Illinois |
| Oklahoma State |
554 |
|
| UT Martin |
508 |
2/3/01 vs. Murray State |
| Georgia |
494 |
2/2/02 vs. Ole Miss |
| Wofford |
483 |
--- |
| Virginia Tech |
473 |
--- |
| Navy |
440 |
1/26/03 vs. Colgate |
| South Dakota |
411 |
1/10/04 @ Augustana (SD) |
| WAGNER |
402 |
2/28/04 vs. Mount St. Mary's |
Francis Fury:
- Sophomore guard Blake Francis has been on fire over the first five games of the season.
- The Herndon, VA native is averaging a team-best 19.8 points per game, which ranks third among all players in the NEC.
- Francis lead the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 47.2 percent.
- He has made 17 three-pointers so far this year, good for second among all-NEC players.
AJ's Block Party:
- Redshirt junior forward AJ Sumbry recorded a season-best three rejections in the 71-70 victory over American on Saturday afternoon.
- For the 6-8 forward, it marked the sixth time in his career that he has rejected three or more shots in a contest.
- Sumbry is currently second in the circuit in total blocks with eight, trailing on Deion Bute of Central Connecticut, who has 12
Hanging With Mr. Cooper:
- Against Staten Island (November 21, 2017), senior guard JoJo Cooper produced his first career 20-point game finishing the contest with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and hitting 8-of-11 from the charity stripe in 24 minutes of action.
- Cooper is averaging 11.2 points per game over the first five games this season. Below is a breakdown of his first-five games over his Seahawk career:
2017-18: 11.2 ppg | 4.2 rpg | 4.4 apg | 32.2 mpg
2016-17: 11.0 ppg | 7.2 rpg | 4.8 apg | 35.6 mpg
2015-16: 2.0 ppg | 1.4 rpg | 2.6 apg | 20.4 mpg
2014-15: 7.4 ppg | 3.2 rpg | 4.0 apg | 24.4 mpg
Good Basketball Always Starts With Good Defense:
- Through five games, the Seahawks are first in field-goal percentage defense (39.8), scoring defense (66.4), as well as blocked shots per game (4.8).
Next Up For Wagner:
- Wagner continues its homestand when the Seahawks welcome the UMass Lowell River Hawks to Staten Island on December 5 for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff.
