Brooklyn, NY – Wagner and LIU Brooklyn will meet for the second time in a week's span when the Seahawks make the short trek across the Verrazzano in search of a season sweep of the Blackbirds after registering a 71-59 win over the defending NEC champions last Saturday on Staten Island. 

The Matchup

In a rematch of last season's NEC championship game, Wagner enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 10-12 and an NEC mark of 5-6 while LIU Brooklyn is 11-12 overall, and also 5-6 in league play. On Thursday night, Wagner dropped a hard-fought defensive battle at St. Francis Brooklyn by a 51-44 count, while at the same time, the Blackbirds were in the process of earning a 77-62 home win over Mount St. Mary's. 

Bunched NEC Race

With those matching 5-6 NEC records, the Seahawks and the Blackbirds find themselves in a three-way tie for sixth place in the NEC along with Bryant. Robert Morris is atop the conference at 8-3 while Saint Francis U and Sacred Heart are in a two-way log jam for second at 7-4. Sitting behind the Pioneers in a tie for fourth are St. Francis Brooklyn (6-5) and FDU (6-5). CCSU is alone in ninth place at 4-7 while Mount St. Mary's is in 10th at 2-9,

Preseason No. 3 vs. No. 4

In the 2018-19 NEC preseason coaches poll back in October, LIU Brooklyn was picked to finish third while the Seahawks were chose number four.

All-Time Series Against The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds

One of the oldest running series in Wagner history, the Seahawks and Blackbirds are meeting for the 109th time with LIU Brooklyn leading 61-47. All-time, Wagner is 25-29 against the Blackbirds on Staten Island and 22-32 on the road. Seahawk seventh-year head coach Bashir Mason holds a career record of 9-7 against the Blackbirds. Since 1990, the Green & White are 35-28 vs. LIU.

Wagner Last Time Out

Came up just short. Time to regroup #Attitude pic.twitter.com/brv9Vzg82v

— Wagner Men's Basketball (@Wagner_MBB) February 8, 2019

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LIU Brooklyn Last Time Out

LIU Brooklyn snapped a two-game losing skid in its tracks Thursday night, beating opponent Mount St. Mary's in resounding fashion in Barclays Center, 77-62. The Blackbirds, who led wire-to-wire in the contest, notched their first win at the arena since December of 2016. LIU had four players score in double digits, led by sophomore Ty Flowers, who had 18 points. Senior Raiquan Clark had his sixth double-double of the season, with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while junior Jashaun Agosto had 14 points and nine assists, and senior Raul Frias added 11 points. With the win, LIU improves to 11-12 on the season, and 5-6 in NEC play. LIU Brooklyn shot 87.5 percent from the free throw line as a team (14-16), their highest percentage this season. Ty Flowers was 6-for-9 from the field to score his game-high 18 points, and also had six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Junior Jashaun Agosto was just one assist shy of a double double, with 14 points and nine assists, and also had three rebounds. Senior Raiquan Clark had his sixth double double of the season, with 10 points and 12 rebounds, along with two steals. Senior Raul Frias added 11 points to score in double digits for the fourth straight game, shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range.

Saunders Joined  Select Company in First Meeting With Blackbirds

Against LIU Brooklyn last Saturday, Romone Saunders became just the 10th player in the nation with a 17pt/6reb/5a/5st game this season.

Saunders 23rd in All-Time Scoring

Redshirt senior guard Romone Saunders now has 1,228 points for his career, which is 23rd n 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

24.       Bob Mahala, Sr. (1950-52, 1955-57)    1,217

25.       Tyler Murray (2008-12)                           1,216

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 21 games, topping the 20-point mark on six occasions with a high of 27 points coming vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (1/5).

Saunders 10th on the Seahawk All-Time 3-PT Made list.
All-Time 3-PT Made 

6. Tyler Murray (2008-12)                      189

7. Lamont Street (1990-94)                   187

8. Jeff Klauder (1998-2002)                   185

9. Corey Henson (2014-2017)               180

10. Romone Saunders (2014-pres.)    177

Saunders Third In Single-Season Free Throw Percentage
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 .872 clip on the year (109-125). 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)          .872 (109-125)

Sumbry 5th All-Time in Blocked Shots

With his four blocked shots in Thursday's win over LIU Brooklyn, redshirt senior center AJ Sumbry is up to 122 blocked as Seahawk (129 for his career, counting 11 during the 2013-14 season while at Quinnipiac).. Those 122 rejections move him into 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 (1994-1999)       176

3 Mladin Mutavdzic (1991-1993)         135

4 Jermaine Hall (1999-2003)                 124

5 A.J. Sumbry (2016-pres.)                  122

Wagner Head Coach Bashir Mason

The Green & White are guided by two-time and reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year Bashir Mason (120-91, .573), 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 (.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. 

Up Next

Following the LIU Brooklyn contest, Wagner returns to the Spiro Sports Center on Thursday, February 14 for a date vs. Central Connecticut. Tip off between the Seahawks and the Blue Devils is set for 7:00 p.m.

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