Staten Island, NY - Fresh off a split of the two-game western Pennsylvania swing, the Wagner men's basketball team will host the Bryant University Bulldogs on Thursday, January 31st in a 7:00 p.m. tip that can be seen live on ESPN+.
Western PA Trip
The Seahawks posted an impressive 83-79 victory at Saint Francis U (1/24) behind senior guard
Elijah Davis, who matched his career high with 20 points, which included four clutch free throws in the final 21 seconds, and redshirt senior guard
Romone Saunders, who added 18 points. En route to posting the road win, Wagner rode a 62 percent second-half shooting effort. Two days later (1/26), the Seahawks traveled to Northeast Conference-leading Robert Morris and whenever these teams meet a physical, defensive-oriented and low-scoring affair is usually in store. And this year's edition in Moon Township, PA was no different, as RMU held on for a hard-earned 57-51 win.
Battle of Third-Place TeamsWagner and Bryant are two of the six teams who find themselves in a third-place logjam in the NEC standings. Robert Morris leads the conference at 7-1, followed by St. Francis Brooklyn in second at 5-3. In addition to the Seahawks and Bulldogs, the six-way third-place tie among 4-4 teams include LIU Brooklyn, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis U, and Sacred Heart. Rounding out the NEC standings in a tie for ninth with matching 2-6 league marks are Central Connecticut, and Mount St. Mary's.
All-Time Series Against The Bryant University Bulldogs
Thursday's matchup vs. Bryant marks 17th all-time meeting between the schools with Wagner holding an 11-5 edge in the head-to-head series. The Green & White, who are 4-1 in their last five meetings with Bryant, swept both matchups a year ago. On January 11, 2018, the Seahawks earned a 71-62 win in Smithfield, RI before posting a 96-76 home win on February 8, 2018. Wagner holds hold a 6-2 all-time record home record vs. the Bulldogs in games played at the Spiro Sports Center.
All-Time Series
2/12/09 Smithfield, RI W, 72-60
2/18/10 Staten Island, NY L, 53-51
1/27/11 Smithfield, RI W, 80-75 (OT)
1/12/12 Staten Island, NY W, 78-61
2/23/12 Smithfield, RI W, 86-73
1/19/13 Smithfield, RI L, 82-59
2/16/13 Staten Island, NY W, 89-75
2/16/14 Staten Island, NY W, 73-61
1/15/15 Smithfield, RI L, 81-73
2/19/15 Staten Island, NY L, 66-65
1/7/16 Staten Island, NY W, 65-56
2/13/16 Smithfield, RI W, 79-55
1/12/17 Smithfield, RI L, 77-66
2/23/17 Staten Island, NY W, 69-66
1/11/18 Smithfield, RI W, 71-62
2/8/18 Staten Island, NY W, 96-76
Series Breakdown
Overall Series Record: Wagner 11, Bryant 5
Last Five Games Wagner: 4, Bryant 1
Last Ten Games Wagner: 7, Bryant 3
Most Points Scored By Wagner: 96 February 8, 2018 - Wagner 96, Bryant 76
Fewest Points Scored By Wagner 51: February 18, 2010 - Bryant 53, Wagner 51
Wagner's Largest Win Margin 24: February 13, 2016 - Wagner 79, Bryant 55
Most Points Scored By Bryant 82: January 19, 2013 - Wagner 59, Bryant 82
Fewest Points Scored By Bryant 53: February 18, 2010 - Bryant 53, Wagner 51
Bryant Largest Win Margin 23: January 19, 2013 - Wagner 59, Bryant 82
Current Wagner Streak: Won, 3
First Meeting: February 12, 2009 - Wagner 72, Bryant 60
Last Meeting: February 8, 2018 - Wagner 96, Bryant 76
Last Wagner Win February 8, 2018 - Wagner 96, Bryant 76
Last Bryant Win January 12, 2017 - Wagner 66, Bryant 77
Wagner All-Time Record vs.
Northeast Conference Schools
(Includes Postseason)
Bryant 11-5 2/8/2018 Won, 96-76
Central Connecticut 29-19 1/3/2019 Won, 80-58
Fairleigh Dickinson 56-53 1/12/2019 Won, 66-60
LIU Brooklyn 46-61 3/6/2018 Lost, 71-61
Mount St. Mary's 37-23 1/19/2019 Lost, 70-56
Robert Morris 29-45 1/26/2019 Lost, 57-51
Sacred Heart 25-11 1/21/2019 Lost, 62-38
St. Francis Brooklyn 44-52 91/5/2019 Lost, 66-5
Saint Francis U 37-36 1/24/2019 Won, 83-79
About the Seahawks
After opening NEC play with a 3-1 record, Wagner has dropped three of its last four games in falling to 4-4 in conference. The Green & White are guided by two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year
Bashir Mason (118-89, .575), 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 as the Seahawks rank second in the NEC in both field goal percentage defense (.428), and scoring defense (68.8), while leading the league in rebounding margin (+4.6).
Wagner is led by 6-3 redshirt senior guard and captain
Romone Saunders, who checks in at 18.2 points (2nd in the NEC), 7.1 rebounds per game (4th in the NEC), and 3.7 assists (7th in NEC). Saunders tops the league with a .882 free throw shooting percentage (97-of-110), a figures that ranks 22nd in the nation.
Senior guard
Elijah Davis is next in scoring at 11.5 ppg. (22nd in the NEC) and has two 20-point plus games to his credit this season, while 6-8 redshirt senior forward
AJ Sumbry and 5-10 sophomore point guard
Chase Freeman are next at 8.9 and 7.4 ppg., respectively. Sumbry also pulls down 6.5 rebounds per game, which is second on the team behind Saunders and 7th in the NEC.
Freeman the BarometerIn at least one respect, how goes sophomore guard
Chase Freeman, so goes Wagner. The Gallatin, TN native has scored in double figures six times this and the Seahawks are 6-0 in these games. Another offensive measuring stick for Wagner is senior guard
Elijah Davis, who's hit for double-digits 10 times with the Seahawks sporting a 7-3 (.700).
About the Bryant BulldogsBryant, which is the only team in the nation to have al¬ready doubled its win total from a year ago, features four players who average in double figures in Sabastian Townes (14.4 ppg.), Adam Grant (14.3 ppg.) Byron Hawkins (12.6 ppg.), and Joe Kasperzyk (10.9 ppg.). Patrick Harding is the Bulldogs' leading rebounder at 5.5 board per game off the bench, while Bryant's top assist man is Kasperzyk at 2.5 helpers per game.
Saunders 25th All-Time in Career Scoring
With his 16 points against Robert Morris on Sunday, all which came in the second half,
Romone Saunders moved up to 25th on the Seahawk all-time scoring list with 1,187 points.
Saunders Elsewhere In All-Time Record*Single-Season Free Throw Percentage: 3rd (.882)
*Career Three-Point Attempts: 9th (484)
*Career Three-Pointers Made: 10th (172)
Sumbry 6th All-Time in Blocked Shots
Redshirt senior center has 116 blocked shots to his credit as a Seahawk (127 for his career, counting 11 during the 2013-14 season while at Quinnipiac. Those 116 rejections are good for sixth on the all-time Wagner career list.
All-Time Blocks
1 Naofall Folahan (2010-14) 230
2 Frantz Pierre-Louis (1994-1999) 176
3 Mladin Mutavdzic (1991-1993) 135
4 Jermaine Hall (1999-2003) 124
5 Durell Vinson (2003-06/07-08) 118
6 A.J. Sumbry (2016-pres.) 116
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).
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.
Up Next
The Seahawks host defending NEC Champion LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, February 2 in a 4:00 p.m. tip at the Spiro Sports Center in the second game of a doubleheaders with the Seahawk and Blackbird women's teams squaring off at 1:00 p.m.
