Loretto, PA  - Two of the hottest teams in the Northeast Conference (NEC) are set to meet as the Wagner men's basketball team travels to Loretto, PA to tangle with the Saint Francis U Red Flash on MSG+.

Thursday's contest is the second of the season between the two schools with Saint Francis earning a 72-67 victory over the Seahawks at the Spiro Sports Center back on January 26.  Wagner enters play riding a season-high three game win streak after the Green & White defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 68-59, on Saturday morning in Hackensack, NJ on ESPNU. The Seahawks had four in double figures, led by junior guard Corey Henson's (Upper Marlboro, MD / DeMatha Catholic) game-high 16 points, which included his 1,000th career point, becoming the 43rd member to join the club.  The Red Flash, winners of four straight, swept its Brooklyn trip this past week, defeating St. Francis Brooklyn, 78-61 on Thursday, 2/2/17 before earning an 80-78 victory at LIU Brooklyn this past Saturday. 

Last Time Out: With four players in double figures, Wagner picked up its third straight win, defeating defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Fairleigh Dickinson, 68-59, on Saturday morning in a game that was televised nationally on ESPNU. With the win, the Seahawks evened their overall record at 11-11 while improving to 7-5 in league play. The victory also split the season series between the Seahawks and Knights. Fairleigh Dickinson falls to 10-13 overall and 8-4 in conference play. Henson led all scorers with a game-best 16 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field but was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Additionally, the third-year Seahawk, who entered the day with 999 career points, became the 43rd member of the 1,000 point club. The Upper Marlboro, MD native posted his 51st career double-figure game and 16th of the year. Senior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College) netted 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting while converting on 7-of-10 from the line.  Junior guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) filled up the statsheet, scoring 13 points, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out a team-best six assists while adding three steals. Redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) chipped in 11 points and six caroms in his 29 minutes of action. Fairleigh Dickinson had three players in double digits, led by Stephan Jiggetts' team-best 13 points on 3-of-16 shooting. Earl Potts Jr. and Darian Anderson each finished with 10 points on a combined 5-of-17. Potts Jr. grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the loss.

All-Time Series: The Seahawks and Red Flash are meeting for the 68th time with SFU holding a slim 34-33 edge in the head-to-head series. The Red Flash took the first meeting of the 2016-17 season, 72-67 back on January 26 on Staten Island. Wagner is 10-21 all-time against Saint Francis in Loretto, PA and is looking for their first victory at DeGol Arena since January 18, 2014, as they took a 56-50 decision. 

Last Time Out Against Saint Francis U (1/26/17):  Wagner junior guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD / DeMatha Catholic) scored 18 points and senior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas / Lamar Consolidated / San Jacinto) added 10 but it wasn't enough to overcome a 25-point effort from Saint Francis U's Isaiah Blackmon, which led four players in double figures, as the Red Flash held off the Seahawks 72-67. The contest featured just 20 combined personal fouls, eight on Wagner and 12 on Saint Francis U, which went 3-of-4 from the free throw line. The Seahawks, meanwhile, were just 2-of-2 from the line for the entire game and did not attempt a single free throw in the second half. The first half was played at a halfcourt pace, more to the Seahawks' liking, as the Green & White took a 34-29 lead into the intermission with junior guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE / Concord) leading the way offensively with seven. SFU opened the second half on a 16-5 scoring run over a span of 5:33 in taking a 45-39 lead. The Red Flash led for the majority of the second half which was played at a quicker pace than the opening half. Saint Francis U's biggest lead of the game was six, the last coming on a three-pointer by Georgios Angelou with 7:46 to play, that put the Red Flash in front, 59-53. Having made just one of his first eight shots from the field, Carey then got hot, scoring 10 of Wagner's next 11 points, in sparking an 11-4 spurt. The athletic and versatile 6-5 guard highlighted the run with an emphatic breakaway dunk, while his jumper with 2:45 left put the Seahawks ahead 64-63. This would prove to be the Seahawks' final lead of the game, however, as the Red Flash answered with a Blackmon three-pointer at the 2:16 mark, which gave SFU the lead for good at 66-64. Following a Seahawk turnover, Blackmon hit a driving layup to make it a 68-64 game with just 1:20 to go. Henson then countered with a three-pointer with 35 second left from the head of the circle, coming out of a timeout, drawing the Seahawks within one at 68-67. SFU again had the answer as Blackmon hit a clutch running one-hander from the left elbow with 18 seconds remaining which gave the Red Flash a 70-67 lead. The Seahawks were then hurried into another turnover on their final possession as Keith Braxton stripped Cooper of the ball with four seconds left, before feeding ahead to Keith Braxton for a layup with two ticks to go which fashioned the final score at 72-67. In addition to Blackmon's game-high 25 points, SFU received 12-point outings from Angelou and Deivydas Kuzavas, while Jamaal King added 10. For Wagner, in addition to Henson's 18 and Carey's 10, freshman guard Blake Francis (Herndon, VA / Westfield) finished with nine points while redshirt junior forward A.J. Sumbry (East Windsor, NJ / St. Benedict's Prep / Quinnipiac) and Cooper wound up with eight and seven points, respectively. Carey and redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ / Raritan / Rhode Island) tied for team-high rebounding honors with eight apiece.

Scouting The Saint Francis U Red Flash: The Red Flash have won four straight contests, most recently a 80-78 decision on the road at LIU Brooklyn this past Saturday. Saint Francis is winners of four of its last five, after suffering a heartbreaking overtime defeat to Central Connecticut back on 1/21/17. The Red Flash defeated Wagner, 72-67, back on January 26 in which four players finished in double-figures, led by Isaiah Blackmon's game-high 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting in 36 minutes of play. Josh Nebo and Georgios Angelou chipped in 12 points apiece on a combined 10-of-18 shooting from the floor while Jamaal King added 10 points and four assists.  Against LIU Brooklyn, Nebo, who is this week's NEC Player of the Week, led four in double-digits with 19 points while recording three blocks in 38 minutes. Blackmon had 15 points while Randall Gaskins Jr. and Angelou finished with 12 and 10, respectively. The Red Flash is the top scoring team in the NEC this season at 76.3 ppg and in conference-only tilts, they are scoring 77.4 ppg. Saint Francis is leading the conference in field goal percentage at  45.9 percent from the field and three-point field goal percentage at 38.4 percent.  Blackmon is one of four players to average double-figures on the season as he is the team's leading scorer at 13.3 ppg (13th in NEC) and leads the circuit in three-point shooting at 50.0 percent.  Six-time NEC Rookie of the Week selection, Keith Braxton, is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 ppg while shooting 51.9 percent from the field (6th-best in the NEC). King is pouring in 12.7 ppg while dishing out 3.65 apg per contest (7th in the NEC). Nebo is tallying 12.3 ppg and is the league-leader in blocks at 2.30 pg and paces the conference with 53 on the year. 

Henson Reaches Milestone In Big Seahawk Win:  Junior guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) scored 16 points in the Seahawks' key 68-59 win over second place Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, but his most memorable bucket was his first, a jumper just 2 1/2 minutes into the game. With the shot, Henson became the 43rd played in Wagner history and the 210th player in NEC annals to reach the millennium mark. He also became the third NEC player this season to crack 1,000 points, joining FDU's Darian Anderson and Central Connecticut's Khalen Cumberlander.

Overcoming Deficits: In Wagner's last five games, the Seahawks have trailed by five or more points in each game and have won four of the five contests. Against Sacred Heart (1/21/17) on the road, the Seahawks trailed by seven at the 6:04 mark of the first half to win by five (67-62). In the last three games, the Green & White have trailed by an average of seven points and have gone on to victory by an average of seven points.  

Iron Mike: Senior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College) is the lone member of the 2016-17 Seahawks to start in every game this season, playing in 22 straight games. 

February Frenzy: The Seahawks are currently 2-0 to start the final month of the regular season. In their two games, the Green & White have outscored their opponents by 9.5 points (69-59.5) while outshooting them 43.3 to 34.5 percent from the floor.  Michael Carey has averaged 17.0 ppg and 6.5 rpg over the first two games of the month while Corey Henson and JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) have added 14.5 and 10.5 ppg, respectively. Cooper has dished out 4.0 apg over the two games. 

Swat Team:  This season, the Wagner Seahawks have rejected five or more shots in a contest seven times.  Against St. Francis Brooklyn (1/28/17), the Green & White sent away a total of seven Terrier shots, with two rejections coming off the hands of redshirt senior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) and junior guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic). 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 denied five shots against Robert Morris in the 2016 Northeast Conference (NEC) quarterfinals (3/2/16).  Sumbry is denying 1.23 shots a contest and has 27 rejections on the season, which is good for fourth in the NEC, while Aaman  (22 blocks) is rejecting 1.05 shots a game, seventh-best in the NEC. 

Simply Mr. Double-Double: Versatile 6-5 guard Michael Carey has notched 22 career double-doubles, the most recent coming in Wagner's thrilling 66-64 home victory over St. Francis Brooklyn (1/28/17) in which the 6-5 guard scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Since the 1997-98 season, Carey is just the sixth Seahawk to record double-digit double-doubles and only the fourth player in the program during this time to record 20 or more double-doubles for a career.

Controlling The Glass: Wagner has outrebounded its opponents in 16 of 21 games this season.  The Green & White ranked 12th in the entire NCAA in rebounding margin at 7.8 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). Three times this season, the Seahawks and their opponents grabbed the same amount of boards, most recently at Fairleigh Dickinson (2/4/17) (37). The other two times: Nov. 30 @ UMass (31) and against Sacred Heart (1/7/17) (37).  Last season, Wagner had outrebounded its opposition by double-figures in 17 games.  The Seahawks rank first in rebounding offense (39.2) and rebounding defense (31.4) and are outmuscling their opponents by +7.8 in the Northeast Conference. 

Painting A Picture: Wagner has scored 646 of its 1486 total points from inside the paint, coming out to 43.5 percent of its total scoring.  Twice 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).  For the 12th time this year, Wagner has scored at least 30 or more points from downlow in seven of its last eight contests after outscoring the Central Connecticut Blue Devils (2/2/17), 30-24. 

At The Half...: When leading at the half under fifth-year Bashir Mason, the Seahawks have posted an overall record of 61-12. This season, the Green & White have entered the intermission with the lead in 14 of the 22 games (8-6 record in these games).

Second Chance: The Seahawks are thriving off second chance opportunities. 
For the season, Wagner is averaging 13.5 points off second chances while their opponents are tallying 9.0 points (298-199).

Final Five: In the final five minutes of the game, Wagner is shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 34.0 percent from three-point land while connecting on 69.0 percent from the free-throw line.

Three-Ball Galore: The men's basketball team have connected on at least one made three-pointer in 390 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.

Next Up For Wagner: Wagner concludes its season-high four game road trip in Moon Township, PA as the Seahawks take on the Robert Morris University Colonials from the Charles L. Sewall Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.