Emmitsburg, MD - The Wagner men's basketball team, which secured the 2018 Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming #NECBBT, closes out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Seahawks take on the defending league champions, the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, at Knott Arena.


 

Last Time Out For Wagner: @ Central Connecticut (February 22, 2018): 

• Senior guard JoJo Cooper dribbled the length of the court, pulled up at the foul line, and knocked down a jump shot with 0.4 seconds left to play to lift the first-place Wagner men's basketball team to a pulsating 64-62 Northeast Conference (NEC) victory at Central Connecticut on Thursday night.
• Redshirt junior guard Romone Saunders paced a balanced offensive effort with 14 points to lead five players in double figures. Cooper's clutch game-winner gave him 13 points, which matched the output supplied by junior guard Devin Liggeons, while sophomore guard Blake Francis and redshirt junior forward A.J. Sumbry added 10 points apiece. Sumbry paced the Seahawks with a game-high eight caroms in the victory.
• In a tight, evenly-played game throughout, the Seahawks trailed 34-31 at halftime and never led by more than eight points. A three-pointer by Saunders with 1:27 left to play gave Wagner a 62-57 lead. On CCSU's ensuing possession, Tyler Kohl drained a three-pointer to make it a two-point game at 62-60.
• Central regained possession of the ball with 26 seconds left following a missed jumper by Cooper. After calling a timeout with 21 seconds to go, Kohl hit a cutting Deion Bute who converted a layup with seven seconds remaining, tying the game at 62-62 as the Seahawks called timeout to set up their final possession.
• Following the timeout, Cooper received the inbounds pass from Saunders and quickly dribbled the ball up the middle of the court before he put on the brakes at the foul line, pulled up, and knocked down the game winner. The Blue Devils immediately called timeout with 0.3 ticks left, which was not enough time to get off a final shot, as the Seahawks began to celebrate their 21st win of the season.
• For CCSU, Joe Hugley led the way with 17 points while Austin Nehls and Kohl added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

• Wagner holds a 37-21 lead in the all-time head-to-head series.
• Saturday's contest is the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season finale for both teams.
• The Seahawks have won 11 of the past 15 meetings in the series and head coach Bashir Mason is 8-4 all-time against the Mountaineers.

SERIES BREAKDOWN

Overall Series Record	Wagner 37, Mount St. Mary's 21
Last Five Games	Wagner 4, Mount St. Mary's 1
Last Ten Games	Wagner 6, Mount St. Mary's 4
Most Points Scored By Wagner	109: January 22, 2000 - Wagner 109, Mount St. Mary's 99
Fewest Points Scored By Wagner	38: February 28, 2004 - Mount St. Mary's 57, Wagner 38
Wagner's Largest Win Margin	32: February 2, 2002 - Mount 70, Wagner 102
Most Points Scored By Mount St. Mary's	99: January 22, 2000 - Wagner 109, Mount St. Mary's 99
Fewest Points Scored By Mount St. Mary's	42: February 10, 2005 - Wagner 61, Mount St. Mary's 42
Mount St. Mary's Largest Win Margin	29: January 21, 1995 - Mount St. Mary's 92, Wagner 63
Current Wagner Streak Against Opponent	Won, 2
First Meeting	January 11, 1990 : Mount St. Mary's 73, Wagner 65
Last Meeting	December 29, 2017: Mount St. Mary's 67, Wagner 79
Last Wagner Win	December 29, 2017: Mount St. Mary's 67, Wagner 79
Last Mount St. Mary's Win	December 31, 2016 - Wagner 56, Mount St. Mary's 57

All-Time vs. the Current Members of the Northeast Conference: 

 

2017-18 Northeast Conference (NEC) Standings (including contests through 2/22/2018)

SCHOOL	NEC	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	STREAK
1. WAGNER * ^	14-3	.824	21-7	.750	W3
2. Saint Francis U *	11-6	.647	17-11	.607	W4
Mount St. Mary's *	10`6	.647	17-13	.567	W2
4. St. Francis Brooklyn *	10-7	.588	13-16	.448	L1
5. Robert Morris *	9-8	.529	15-15	.500	L2
LIU Brooklyn *	9-8	.529	14-16	.467	W1
7. Fairleigh Dickinson	8-9	.471	11-17	.393	L2
8. Central Connecticut	6-11	.353	13-17	.433	L1
9. Sacred Heart	5-12	.294	10-20	.333	W1
10. Bryant	2-15	.118	3-27	.100	L3

* Clinched NEC Tournament berth
^ Clinched NEC Regular Season title 



Scouting The Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers:

• Mount St. Mary's, the defending NEC champions, are currently tied for second in the league standings at 11-6 with Saint Francis U.  The Mountaineers can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win or a Saint Francis U loss. 
• As a team, the Mountaineers are one of just three schools outscoring their opponents on the season (Wagner +7.5 and Saint Francis U, +3.8). MSM is second in the league in FT% (73.6) and FG% (46.0%) while leading the circuit in 3PT FG% (37.5%).
• Junior Robinson is the NEC's leading scorer at 22.2 ppg, which ranks among the top-10 in the entire NCAA. Robinson is second in the circuit in Assists (4.93 apg), FT% (90.4%), and Minutes at 36.3 per game. 
• Jonah Antonio is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.7 ppg, while ranking third in the NEC in three-point field goals made with 88 (2.93 pg). 
• Greg Alexander, the team's third leading scorer at 10.6 ppg while Chris Wray is the team's leading rebounder at 8.3 caroms a contest. 
• In league-only games, Mount St. Mary's is averaging 74.5 ppg, while converting on 47.8 percent from the field and hitting on 40.6 percent from beyond-the-arc. 

Last Time Out Against Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (December 29, 2017 - Won, 76-57)

• Sophomore guard Blake Francis tossed in 18 points and dished out five assists, junior wing Elijah Davis recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard JoJo Cooper narrowly missed a triple-double with 10 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, in leading Wagner to a 76-57 win over Mount St. Mary's in the Northeast (NEC) Conference opener for both teams on Saturday night at the Spiro Sports Center.
• Redshirt junior forward AJ Sumbry was a force on the inside throughout for the Seahawks, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots.
• Junior Robinson paced the Mountaineers with a game-high 19 points while Jonah Antonio and Chris Wray added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

   

 

• At 21-7 overall on the season, the Seahawks ensured that they will finish with a .500 or better record for the 48th time in program history.  
• It marks the fifth time in his six seasons that Coach Mason's team will have led the Seahawks to a .500 or better mark. 

 
Wagner All-Time 20-Win Seasons: 

• The 2017-18 Seahawks are the eighth team in Wagner history to reach the 20-win mark. 
• The 21 wins by the 2017-18 Seahawks are tied for fourth in all-time single-season wins
• The 21 regular season wins are the most under Bashir Mason. In 2015-16, Mason led the Seahawks to a regular season mark of 20-9 en route to a 23-11 overall record.
• A win over Mount St. Mary's would give Wagner a 15-3 NEC record, tying the 2007-08 and the 2011-12 teams for the Seahawks' best single-season NEC record.

 

Wagner Basketball All-Time 20-Win Seasons

Year	Overall	NEC Record	Head Coach
2011-12	25-6	15-3	Dan Hurley
2015-16	23-11	13-5	Bashir Mason
2007-08	23-8	15-3	Mike Deane
2002-03	21-11	14-4	Dereck Whittenburg
2017-18	21-7	14-3	Bashir Mason
1978-79	21-7		P.J. Carlesimo
1967-68 *	21-8		Chester Sellitto
1955-56 *	20-3		Herb Sutter

* Pre-Division I Era
 

NEC Teams With Perfect Home Records

Team	Record	Year	Result
Wagner	14-0	2017-18	???
LIU Brooklyn	15-0	2011-12	NEC Champion
Monmouth	13-0	2003-04	NEC Champion
LIU Brooklyn	12-0	1996-97	NEC Champion
Fairleigh Dickinson	15-0	1990-91	NEC Runner-Up
Robert Morris	12-0	1982-83	NEC Champion

 

• Head coach Bashir Mason, who is currently the sixth-youngest active head coach in Division I, reached a coaching career milestone on Saturday, January 20.
• In Wagner's 62-49 home victory over Robert Morris back on January 20th, Coach Mason earned his 100th career coaching victory.
• In the process, Coach Mason became just the third Seahawk bench boss to eclipse the 100 career wins, joining former coaches Herb Sutter  (352) and Tim Capstraw (117). 
• Additionally, Coach Mason and Capstraw are the only two Seahawk coaches to reach 100 wins in the Division I era, which began in 1976-77, under Wagner Hall of Famer and 3x-time NBA Champion, P.J. Carlesimo

 

 

• Senior guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) earned his third Northeast Conference (NEC) weekly honor of the season when he was named Co-Player of the Week, along with Saint Francis U junior guard Jamaal King, the league office announced on Monday.
• Cooper, who previously earned Player of the Week honors back on January 22 and December 18, is now a three-time weekly honoree, joining Mount St. Mary's guard Junior Robinson (5x) and Robert Morris guard Dachon Burke (4x) in winning three or more league citations this season.
• The senior point guard helped Wagner clinch the NEC regular season title, and top seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament, with a pair of victories. Cooper netted 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists while hitting 53.6 percent of his shot attempts.
• The Wilmington, DE native scored 23 points, grabbed seven caroms and dished out six assists in the Seahawks' 99-84 victory at Sacred Heart on Thursday evening. On Saturday, he nearly posted an identical performance with 18 points, five rebounds and six assists in Wagner's 78-74 title clinching victory over LIU Brooklyn on Saturday.
• Cooper is one of two players nationally (Marshall's Jon Elmore) who are averaging at least 14.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 6.0 apg on the year.

Seahawk Three-Point Trivia: