Staten Island, NY - After completing a regular season sweep of defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion LIU Brooklyn on the road Saturday, the Wagner men's basketball team will look to duplicate this feat at home on Thursday vs. a Central Connecticut team that is coming off a win at first-place Robert Morris.
 
The Matchup
*The Seahawks and Blue Devils both enter Thursday's matchup on the heels of big victories.
 
*On Saturday, senior guard Elijah Davis scored 18 points to lead three players in double figures and Wagner used a 23-9 offensive rebounding edge in muscling its way to a 68-65 at LIU Brooklyn.
 
*Also on Saturday, CCSU earned a hard-fought, 77-68 at Robert Morris as the Blue Devils shot 65 percent in the second half and had four players in double figures.
 
*Senior Tyler Kohl scored a game-high 23 points with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals and then was rewarded by winning his league record sixth NEC Player of the Week honor.
 
*For CCSU, Thursday's matchup at Wagner will be the Blue Devils' third straight road game.
 
First Meeting: Wagner 80, CCSU 58, January 3, 2019, New Britain, CT
*Senior guard Elijah Davis responded to his first start of the season by pouring in a season-high 19 points to lead a balanced Wagner effort as the Seahawks earned an 80-58 road victory at Central Connecticut State in the NEC opener for both teams at Detrick Gymnasium.
 
*Davis' 19-point effort was one shy of his career high and was highlighted by 3-of-6 accuracy from three-point range.
 
*Four different Seahawks hit a trio of three-pointers as Wagner knocked down a season-high 15 three-pointers, a figure that is one shy of the all-time single-game record.
 
*Senior guard and captain Romone Saunders (3-of-8 from three-point range) matched his average of 17 points while also equaling his career-high of six assists on the evening, in addition to tying for team-high honors in rebounding with six.
 
*Sophomore Chase Freeman played a steady floor game, finishing with 10 points (3-of-5 from three-point range), to go with five assists, while playing 30 minutes of turnover-free basketball from his point guard spot.
 
*Sophomore forward Nigel Jackson added nine points, all coming in the first half on three long-range jumpers, while senior guard Devin Liggeons chipped in with eight points and six rebounds.
 
*Joe Hugley had a double-double for CCSU with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Kaushaun Hicks also hit for 14 points for the home team.
 
*Tyler Kohl did not play in this first meeting as he sat out the game due to injury.
 
6-6 vs. 5-7
*Wagner holds a one-game lead over Central in the tightly-bunched NEC standings as the Seahawks' 6-6 league record puts them in a tie for fifth place with St. Francis Brooklyn while the Blue Devils, at 5-7, are in a three-way tie for seventh along with Bryant and LIU Brooklyn.
 
All-Time vs. Central Connecticut
*Defending NEC regular season champion Wagner holds a 29-19 lead in the all-time head-to-head series, which began in 1939, and includes an 80-58 win in New Britain, CT back on January 3 which was the conference opener for both teams.
 
*The Seahawks have won the last nine meetings between the schools and 14 of the last 15, with the lone CCSU win in this stretch coming on January 24, 2015 when Central eked out a 53-50 win in New Britain.

 *Seahawk seventh-year head coach Head Coach Bashir Mason is 13-3 all-time against Central Connecticut.
 
*Wagner won all three meetings between the teams last season, sweeping the two regular season games by scores of 72-59 and 64-62, before the top-seeded Seahawks earned a 73-61 NEC Tournament quarterfinal win at the Spiro Sports Center.
 
Wagner-LIU Brooklyn Tussle Was Amazingly Tight Down the Stretch
*In Saturday's 68-65 win at defending NEC-champion LIU Brooklyn, the Green & White trailed 34-28 at the half before taking their first lead with 15:06 left when layup by senior guard Elijah Davis put Wagner in front by a 39-38 count.
 
*Incredibly, from this point forward over the game's final 15 minutes, the lead changed hands 12 times and there were nine ties, as the score was knotted at 41-41, 45-45, 47-47, 52-52, 55-55, 58-58, 59-59, 61-61, and 65-65.

*The Green & White are guided by two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year Bashir Mason (121-91, .574), the fastest coach to win 100 games in Seahawk history, who has developed 12 All-NEC selections during his tenure.

*Those 121 wins rank No. 2 on the Seahawk all-time list behind only Herb Sutter, who amassed a 352-252 (.583) record from 1937-1965.

*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 (.425), and scoring defense (67.7), while leading the league in rebounding margin (+4.6).

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.

6-7 Forward Darion Jordan-Thomas Signs Letter of Intent

*During the early signing period back in November, 6'7" Massachusetts forward Darion Jordan-Thomas from Woodstock Academy (CT) signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his academic and athletic career at Wagner College. "I'm extremely excited to add Darion to our program. He's a tough, athletic and skilled forward who will help bolster our front line," said Mason. "He will provide us with a scoring presence in the post, rebounds the basketball very well, and has the ability to develop into a top defender." Jordan-Thomas, who scored more than 1,600 career points in his high school career, was a standout at Proctor Academy in Andover, NH, before electing to spend a prep school year at Woodstock Academy. The Brockton, MA native, who will be a freshman in 2019-20, was also a standout performer on the AAU circuit for the renowned Basketball Amateur Basketball Club (BABC). In the summer of 2018, he helped lead his team to the Massachusetts State Championship.