Staten Island, NY – The Wagner men's basketball team looks for its third consecutive win when the Seahawks conclude a stretch of four straight home games by playing host to the Mount St. Mary's University Mountaineers on Saturday, January 19 in a 4:00 p.m. tip at the Spiro Sports Center.
All-Time Series vs. Mount St. Mary's
*Wagner holds a 37-22 lead in the all-time head-to-head series and head coach
Bashir Mason is 8-5 all-time against the Mountaineers.
*These teams split their two meetings a year ago, each holding serve on their respective home floors with Wagner coming away with a 76-57 win on Staten Island (12/29/17) and Mount posting a 73-62 victory (2/24/18) in the NEC regular season finale.
Wagner has won eight of the past nine matchups at the Spiro Sports Center. The Mount's lone win in that stretch was a 77-72 victory in the Northeast Conference semifinals on March 8, 2014.
About the Seahawks
*Wagner is coming off a pair of hard-fought victories, a 66-60 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday, which was preceded by an equally gritty 79-76 victory over Sacred Heart.
*The Green & White are guided by two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year
Bashir Mason (118-86, .576), the fastest coach to win 100 games in Seahawk history, who has developed 12 All-NEC selections during his tenure,
*Now in his seventh season at the helm of the Seahawk ship, Mason was the youngest head coach at the Division I level when he was named the 18th head men's basketball coach in school history on March 26, 2012. At age 34, he remains one of the nation's youngest head coaches, checking in as the sixth-most youthful head coach heading into the 2018-19 campaign.
*Defense and rebounding have been at the forefront of Wagner's success throughout Mason's tenure and the 2018-19 season has been no different. The Seahawks top the league in both field goal percentage defense (.424) and rebounding margin (+8.1).
About the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers
*The Mount jumped out to a 16-point lead against Central Connecticut this past Saturday, but saw the Blue Devils stage a rally for a 77-68 win at Knott Arena.
*Omar Habwe led four Mountaineers in double figures with 17 points. The Mount hit 13-of-29 (.448) from three-point range in the game. The Mount raced to a 27-11 lead midway through the first half, and held a 12-point advantage just over six minutes into the second half.
*Habwe averaged a double-double of 14.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the Mount's two home games last week. Habwe opened the week by pulling down a career-best 17 rebounds against Bryant January 10. He followed with a team-high 17 points in the Mount's 77-68 loss to Central Connecticut on January 12.
*The Mount has been getting consistent contributions from the backcourt in Northeast Conference play. Freshmen Damian Chong Qui and Vado Morse have each scored in double figures in each of the Mount's four NEC games this season. Morse is averaging a team-high 14.3 points in NEC play while Chong Qui is averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 3.8 assists.
Saunders Named NEC Player of the Week
*In leading Wagner to a 2-0 week with gritty, wire-to-wire victories over Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson, 6-3 redshirt senior guard and captain
Romone Saunders has been named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week, the league office announced today.
*In averaging 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals in the two wins, the Temple Hills, MD native shares this week's honor with Tyler Kohl of Central Connecticut.
*In Thursday's 76-73 win over SHU, Saunders tallied 24 points, to go with five rebounds and four assists, while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor (57.1 percent) and 5-of-9 from deep (55.6 percent) in 39 minutes.
*Two days later, in a 66-60 win over Fairleigh Dickinson, Saunders was again in the middle of most of the essential action, hitting for 25 points, with 11 rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes. This effort allowed Saunders to become just the third player in the nation this season to finish with at least 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and three steals in a game.
*Saunders' 25-point, 11-rebound effort, both game highs, in the win over FDU, marked his third double-double of the season, tying with redshirt senior forward
AJ Sumbry for the team high in this category. For his career, Saunders now has seven double-doubles.
*For the two games combined, the Temple Hills, MD native shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) from the floor, even better from three-point range (52.6 percent/10-19), while making 7-of-8 free throws as (87.5 percent).
*In helping Wagner jump out to a 3-1 record and in a three-way tie atop the NEC standings, Saunders is the league's second-leading scorer at 23.3 points per game, and ranks No. 1 in the conference in both free throw shooting percentage (95.6 – 21-of-22) and three-pointers made per game (3.5).
*Overall, Saunders is the team leader in both scoring (18.9 ppg.) and rebounding (7.3 rpg.).
Saunders Climbing in Wagner All-Time Scoring
27.
Corey Henson (2014-17) 1,150
28. Courtney Pritchard (2000-04) 1,147
29. Durell Vinson (2003-06; 2007-08) 1,144
30. Marcus Burton (2011-15) 1,137
31. Oliver Featherston (1966-69) 1,129
32. Romone Saunders (2014-pres.) 1,125
Back-to-Back Wire-to-Wire Wins
*Thought it probably didn't feel this way to the Seahawk players and coaches, but in Wagner's two hard-fought wins over Sacred Heart (79-76) and FDU (66-60) last week, Wagner never trailed in either game.
* Following a similar script to the win over Sacred Heart where Wagner bolted out to a 17-2 lead, the Green & White raced out to a 14-4 over FDU.
Second Half vs. FDU a Two-Man Offensive Show
*From an offensive standpoint, the second half was vs. FDU on Saturday was exclusively a
Romone Saunders/
Elijah Davis show as these two veteran guards combined to score all 26 of Wagner's second-half points, with Davis hitting 14 and Saunders scoring 12.
*For the game, Saunders finished with a game-high 25 points while Davis added 20.
Wagner Picked Fourth in NEC Preseason Poll
*The Northeast Conference (NEC) preseason coaches' poll was announced on October 24 at the league's Social Media Day at Barclays Center, and the defending regular season champion Wagner men's basketball team was predicted to finish fourth by the coaches for the upcoming 2018-19 season.
*Saint Francis U was tabbed the preseason favorite, securing eight first-place votes. Fairleigh Dickinson was predicted to finish second while defending league champion LIU Brooklyn was picked third, with both the Knights and Blackbirds securing one first-place preseason vote apiece.
*Wagner checked in at fourth, Robert Morris was chosen fifth, with Central Connecticut and St. Francis Brooklyn taking the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. Bryant (8th), Sacred Heart (9th) and Mount St. Mary's round out the 10-team poll.
Northeast Conference Launches New Branding Initiative
*The NEC launched its "All In, Ball Out" branding campaign at the league's "Social" Media Day in Brooklyn on Oct. 24, 2018.
*The campaign is meant to capture the essence and attitude of the NEC's basketball-centric nature, and convey a host of traits common to its student-athletes, teams and the Conference itself.
*A series of hoops theme nights were announced to take place during league play and enhance the fan experience through coordinated marketing efforts within the conference. The theme nights are NECNewYear (Jan. 3 & 5), MLK Day (Jan. 21) and Love & NEC Basketball (Feb. 14 & 16).
Up Next
The Seahawks travel to Sacred Heart on Monday, January 21, in a 3:30 p.m. Martin Luther King Day tip.
Follow Us: #CHAOSonthehill
Wagner Athletics
Men's Basketball:
Head Coach
Bashir Mason:
