2018 SENIOR DAY:
Prior to this afternoon's contest, the Wagner men's basketball will recognize four Seahawks, as well as a pair of student managers, Kyra Alexander and Cassandra Bernard, in a pregame ceremony.

Shack Scott: A Paterson, NJ native and a member of the men's basketball team for the last two seasons, Scott has given the Seahawks valuable minutes this season. After appearing in 18 games last season, Scott missed the first half of the year as he was a member of the Wagner football team before rejoining his teammates on the hardwood against Mercy College back on December 10. The 6-7 forward scored a career-best 10 points on two occasions while corralling a personal-best six caroms on the road at LIU Brooklyn earlier this season. Known for his spectacular and jaw-dropping slam dunks, Scott is currently one of 16 participants competing in the 2018 State Farm Dark Horse Dunker Competition. 

 

AJ Sumbry: An intimidating force in the paint for opposing NEC players this season, the product of East Windsor, NJ, AJ arrived on Grymes Hill for the 2015-16 season. After sitting out that season, the former Quinnipiac forward played in all 30 games in his first season as a Seahawk. He finished third in the NEC in blocks that season, averaging 1.3 per contest. The former St. Benedict's Prep standout has elevated his game on both ends of the floor in 2017-18. In addition to averaging 6.7 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game, he's recorded nine games of at least three blocks while rejecting four shots five different times. In 26 games this season, Sumbry has either led or tied for the team lead in blocked shots 18 times, and 33 times overall in his career. The 6'8" Sumbry also ranks among the top-ten shot blockers in program history, with 88. 

 

JoJo Cooper: A four-year member of the program, who hails from Wilmington, De, Cooper was known as an elite defender among the other nine teams in the conference and this season, the crafty veteran point guard is playing the best basketball of his career. After averaging 8.2 ppg his junior season, Cooper is among the top-15 scorers this season, netting 14.0 ppg, as he has scored in double digits 22 times (and 39 times in his career), while hitting for  20 or more points on four different occasions. The 6-0 Cooper enters today's play as the NEC leader in assists at 6.4 helpers a contest. In fact, for his Seahawk career, which has spanned 117 games, Cooper has dished out a total of 483 helpers, good for seventh on the all-time Seahawk list. Additionally, he has either led or tied for the team high in that category 77 times, which includes a team-best 23 times this season. Entering play today, he has netted 911 career points.

 

Romone Saunders: The 6' 3" guard has been a part of the program all four years. After averaging 7.9 ppg and close to 10.0 ppg in 2015-16,his 2016-17 season began with tremendous promise. At then 18th-ranked UConn, the Maryland native recorded 15 points, on 5-of-11 shooting from the field before suffering a season-ending injury. Despite missing the first seven games of this season, while continuing to get stronger,Saunders immediately made his presence felt. He has surpassed the 20-point mark nine different times, highlighted by a career-high 30 points at Saint Francis U in front of a nationally-televised audience on ESPNU.

 

 

Season	Home Record	Overall Record	Result	Coach
2000-01	11-8	16-13	NEC Quarterfinals	Dereck Whittenburg
2001-02	13-5	19-10	NEC Quarterfinals NIT Participant	Dereck Whittenburg
2002-03	14-1	21-11	NEC Regular Season Champions NEC Tournament Champions NCAA Tournament Participant	Dereck Whittenburg
2007-08	13-3	23-8	NEC Semifinals	Mike Deane
2011-12	12-3	25-6	NEC Semifinals	Dan Hurley
2012-13	11-3	19-12	NEC Semifinals	Bashir Mason
2013-14	10-3	19-12	NEC Semifinals	Bashir Mason
2015-16	13-4	23-11	NEC Regular Season Champions NIT Participant	Bashir Mason
2017-18	13-0	19-7	???	Bashir Mason

• Wagner has matched an NEC single-season high with 16 three-pointers twice this season, most recently in its 99-84 win over Sacred Heart on the road and back on February 8 in its 96-76 win over Bryant in a game that aired nationally in CBS Sports Network.
• The Seahawks, who were 16-32 (.500) from beyond the arc, joined  Mount St. Mary's (vs. CCSU on 1/6) and St. Francis Brooklyn (vs. CCSU on 1/11) as teams with 16 triples in a game this season.
• Blake Francis (Herndon, VA/Westfield) and Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac (Mt. Zion Prep)) made six three-pointers apiece in the win against the Bulldogs, becoming the first NEC teammates to hit six from distance since RMU's Karvel Anderson hit nine and Lucky Jones made six in the Colonials' 89-78 win over St. John's on March 18, 2014 in the Postseason NIT. 

 

• Redshirt junior forward AJ Sumbry has made his presence felt in the paint on both sides of the ball.
• Sumbry is ranked 7th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (16.7) and 18th in the country in block percentage (11.4).
• Sumbry is the NEC leader with 1.9 bpg on the year and leads a Wagner team that ranks 15th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.399). On the boards, the Seahawks are 16th nationally in offensive rebounding (13.24/gm).

• Francis and Saunders were each named #NECPrimePerformers on Monday
• Francis continued to shine in a reserve role for the Seahawks with 22.5 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.0 spg last week. He drilled 10-22 shots (.455) from downtown. Francis scored a career-high 29 points in a win over Bryant on Thursday, making 6-11 three-point shots.

 

Blake Francis continued to shine for @WagnerAthletics with 22.5 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.0 spg last week. He drilled 10 shots from downtown. Francis scored a career-high 29 points in a win over Bryant on Thursday, making 6-11 three-pointers. #NECPrimePerformer #NECMBB pic.twitter.com/kodAKyJYfT

— Northeast Conference (@NECsports) February 12, 2018

• Saunders averaged 24.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 5.0 apg in a 1-1 week for the first place Seahawks. The junior guard drained 6-11 from three-point range and finished with 24 points, five boards and six assists in Thursday's win over Bryant, then tallied 25 points at FDU on Sunday.

 

Romone Saunders averaged 24.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 5.0 apg for 1st place @WagnerAthletics. The junior guard drained 6-11 from 3P range and finished with 24 points, 5 boards & 6 assists in Thursday's win over Bryant, then netted 25 points at FDU on Sunday. #NECPrimePerformer #NECMBB pic.twitter.com/74bMOc7qSf

— Northeast Conference (@NECsports) February 12, 2018

Pair of Seahawks Moving Up The Career Charts:

Wagner All-Time Career Assists List

5. Arvie Powell 520

6. Billy Kurisko 496

7. JoJo Cooper 483
8. Tony Rice 455

9. Kenneth Ortiz 429

 

6. Nick Frederick 105

7. Nigel Wyatte 94

8. AJ Sumbry 88
8. Dave Smolka 86

10. Mark Porter 84

11. Largest Agberhemsin 79

• JoJo Cooper has been on assist spree as of late for league leading Wagner.
• Cooper has registered at least eight dimes in seven of his last nine games (7.9 over the last nine games). 
• Cooper now has 12 games with 8+ assists on the year. Among the top-20 assists leaders in Division I, Cooper is tied with Austin Luke from Belmont (Ohio Valley Conference) and Cassius Winston of Michigan State (Big Ten), who also has 12 games with 8+helpers.  Emett Near of Saint Mary's (WCC) has 20 games while Trae Young of Oklahoma (Big 12) has 18 games of eight or more dimes. 
• He leads the NEC and ranks 14th nationally with 6.4 apg. Cooper is also the conference leader and 19th in DI with a 36.4 assist rate.

• The Seahawks are 8-2 in its last ten games. 
• The team is averaging 78.5 ppg, shooting 46.1 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three-point range and 67.8 percent from the free-throw line.
• Wagner is holding opponents to 66.3 points per game, 41.8 percent from the field, 34.2 from beyond-the-arc and 65.7 percent from the charity stripe.
• The Green & White are a +4.9 on the boards, outmuscling opponents 38.1 to 33.2.
• Blake Francis is netting 18.0 ppg over his last nine games while dialing it up from the outside at a 46.8 percent clip. 
• Romone Saunders has scored 17.2 ppg while pulling down a team-best 6.5 caroms over his last ten contests. 
• JoJo Cooper is chipping in 14.0 ppg over his last ten games, while dishing out 7.5 apg, and grabbing a 5.2 rebounds in 37.9 minutes of action. 

Capitalizing Off Turnovers: 

• Wagner is averaging 16.1 points off turnovers while its opponents are logging just 12.7 ppg (418-329). 

 

• The Seahawks have shown the ability to run up and down the court as Wagner is averaging 10.5 points a game via fast break while limiting their opponents to just 6.2 points (274-162) and is surpassing last season's total point production via fast break opportunities. 
• Last season, in 30 games, Wagner logged 133 total points off fast break chances, averaging out to 4.4. a contest.