Brooklyn Heights, NY - Coming off an impressive 71-59 win over defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, the Wagner men's basketball team will travel to St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, Feb. 7 in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Pope Physical Education Center.
The Matchup
Thursday's tussle will mark the second game of the season between these long-time rivals as the Terriers came away with a 71-62 victory on Grymes Hill back on January 5. Wagner enters the contest with an overall record of 10-11 and an NEC mark of 5-5 while St. Francis Brooklyn is 13-10 overall, and also 5-5 in league play.
Battle of Fifth-Place Teams In Tightly-Bunched NEC Race
With those matching 5-5 NEC records, the Seahawks and the Terriers find themselves in a three-way tie for fifth place in the NEC along with Bryant. Robert Morris is atop the conference at 7-3 while Saint Francis U, FDU and Sacred Heart are in a three-way log jam at 6-4. Sitting behind the Seahawks (5-5), Terriers (5-5) in a tie for eighth are LIU Brooklyn (4-6) and CCSU (4-6) while Mount St. Mary's is in 10th at 2-8.
All-Time vs. St. Francis Brooklyn
Thursday's contest will mark the 96th time these teams are squaring off with the Terriers holding a 52-44 advantage in the head-to-head series. The Seahawks split their two meeting with the Terriers last season, dropping an 82-75 road decision on December 31, 2017, before earning a 79-61 home victory on February 3, 2018.
Norfleet Hitting His Stride
As we pass the midway point of NEC play, 6-2 freshman guard
Jonathan Norfleet appears to be finding his stride, averaging 13.0 points in his last two games. In Thursday's contest vs. Bryant, Norfleet hit for a career-high 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, to go with three rebounds, two assists and one steal in 29 minutes of action. Two days later, in Wagner's 71-59 win over defending NEC-champion LIU, while again playing 29 minutes, the Virginia Beach, VA native tallied 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, with two rebounds, one assist and one steal. These offensive numbers are well above his season averages of 3.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per outing.
About The St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers
The Terriers, who have been on the road for five straight games, dropped their second straight contest on Thursday, falling at Sacred Heart, 71-62. St. Francis Brooklyn features three players who average double figures led by sophomore guard Jalen Jordan, who checks in at 16.2 ppg. Also hitting for double-digits this far for SFBK are 5-11 graduate student and Staten Island native, Glenn Sanabria, who averaged 12.2 ppg., while 5-8 sophomore guard Chauncey Hawkins is at 11.6 ppg. Sophomore forward Yaradyah Evans pulled down 15 rebounds against Sacred Heart on Saturday, the third most in an NEC game this season. He is the only player in the conference with multiple 15+ rebound games on the year.
Saunders' Consistent Productivity Continues
Romone Saunders had another "
Romone Saunders" type of week, filling up the stat sheet to the tune of 15.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 5.0 apg, 4.5 spg while 73 out of a possible 80 minutes in Wagner's 1-1 week. In Thursday's 71-64 loss to Bryant, the 6-3 redshirt senior guard and captain tossed in 13 points, adding eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. He followed that effort in Saturday's 71-59 win over defending NEC-champion LIU Brooklyn with a 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a career-setting five steals. For his efforts, Saunders was named an #NECPrimePerformer.
Saunders in Select Company
Against LIU Brooklyn, Saunders became just the 10th player in the nation with a 17pt/6reb/5a/5st game this season.
Saunders Tied for 23rd in All-Time Scoring
The 17 points delivered by
Romone Saunders in Saturday's win over LIU Brooklyn give him 1,217 for his career and moves him past recent Seahawk standout Tyler Murray and into a tie for 23rd place in the all-time Wagner record book.
All-Time Scoring
| 20. Frantz Pierre-Louis (1994-99) |
1,271 |
| 21. Jamal Smith (2004-08) |
1,260 |
| 22. Howard Thompkins (1978-81) |
1,236 |
| 23. Romone Saunders (2014-pres) |
1,217 |
| Bob Mahala, Sr. (1950-52; 1955-57) |
1,217 |
Fun Fact
Since opening the season with a seven-point outing at Seton Hall back on November 6,
Romone Saunders has scored in double figures in each of Wagner's last 20 games, topping the 20-point mark on six occasions with a high of 27 points coming vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (1/5).
Romone Saunders is now up to 175 three-pointers made in his career, which places him 10th on the Seahawk all-time list.
All-Time 3-PT Made
| 6. Tyler Murray (2008-12) |
189 |
| 7. Lamont Street (1990-94) |
187 |
| 8. Jeff Klauder (1998-02) |
185 |
| 9. Corey Henson (2014-17) |
180 |
| 10. Romone Saunders (2014-pres) |
175 |
Romone Saunders is currently ranked third all-time in single-season free throw percentage. The NEC leader in this category, Saunders is hitting at a .869 clip on the year (106-122). While Saunders is third all-time, there's only one Seahawk who has ever shot free throws better in a season and that's current Harlem Globetrotter, Latif Rivers, who occupies each of the top two spots.
Single-Season FT %
| 1. Latif Rivers (2010-11) |
.891 (122-137) |
| 2. Latif Rivers (2011-12) |
.884 (107-121) |
| 3. Romone Saunders (2018-19) |
.869 (106-122) |
Sumbry Tied for 5th All-Time in Blocked Shots
With his two blocked shots in Saturday's win over LIU Brooklyn, redshirt senior center
AJ Sumbry is up to 118 blocked as Seahawk (129 for his career, counting 11 during the 2013-14 season while at Quinnipiac).. Those 118 rejections move him into a tie for fifth on the all-time Wagner career list with recent Wagner standout Durell Vinson.
All-Time Blocks
| 1. Naofall Folahan (2010-14) |
230 |
| 2. Frantz Pierre-Louis (1994-99) |
176 |
| 3. Mladin Mutavdzic (1991-93) |
135 |
| 4. Jermaine Hall (1999-03) |
124 |
| 5. A.J. Sumbry (2016-pres) |
118 |
| Durell Vinson (2003-06; 07-08) |
118 |
Wagner Head Coach Bashir Mason
The Green & White are guided by two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year
Bashir Mason (120-90, .574), the fastest coach to win 100 games in Seahawk history, who has developed 12 All-NEC selections during his tenure.
Those 120 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 (.428), and scoring defense (68.8), 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.
Up Next
On Saturday, February 9, Wagner will conclude its tour of Downtown Brooklyn as they face LIU Brooklyn in a 4:30 p.m. tip at the Steinberg Wellness Center.
