WATCH | Live Stats
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team will go for its 10
th straight win on Thursday, when the Seahawks host Saint Francis U at 7:00 pm at the Spiro Sports Center.
Winning Ways
The Seahawks have won nine straight games and have started Northeast Conference (NEC) play with an 8-0 record.
Wagner is currently tied for the fifth-longest win streak in Division I men's basketball. The nine-game win streak is the longest since last year, when the Seahawks won 10 straight on their way to an NEC regular season title. This is the third time under
Bashir Mason that Wagner has won nine straight games (2013-14, 2020-21).
Wagner's 8-0 start in NEC play is the best in the league since LIU began the 2011-12 campaign with an 8-0 record en route to a 16-2 campaign.
The NEC record for most consecutive wins to tipoff the conference season belongs to UMBC, which won 15 in a row in 1998-99 before dropping two of its last three games to settle for a 17-3 record.
No NEC team has ever completed the regular season with a perfect record. The only teams to finish with one loss are CCSU (19-1 in 2001-02) and Marist (15-1 in 1986-87).
Wagner In The National Rankings
Wagner checks in at #18 in this week's Mid-Major Top-25 poll, released by collegeinsider.com, up two spots compared to last week.
Wagner remains the lone Northeast Conference (NEC) team to be ranked in the poll.
In the national rankings, Wagner entered the week ranked 77
th in the NCAA's NET rankings and 108
th in the KenPom rankings, 91 spots ahead of the next-best NEC team.
The Seahawks rank 15
th nationally in field goal percentage (49.0%), 15
th in scoring margin (14.3), 17
th in steals per game (9.4), 21
st in turnovers forced (16.79), 27
th in rebounding margin (+6.5), and 42
nd in scoring defense (63.2).
Last Time Out
Five Seahawks scored in double figures as the Seahawks earned their ninth straight victory and moved to 8-0 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with a 71-57 road victory at Merrimack.
Graduate student
Elijah Ford led all scorers with 20 points on 9-11 shooting, while freshman
Zaire Williams contributed a career-high 16 points, including four three pointers.
Following a career-high 35 points at LIU on Friday, graduate student
Alex Morales added 12 points and six rebounds, while classmate
Will Martinez added 11 points and four assists. Redshirt-senior
Raekwon Rogers was the fifth Seahawk in double figures with 10 points on the afternoon.
Morales Continues To Dominate
Graduate student
Alex Morales of the Wagner College men's basketball team was named Co-Player of the Week by the Met Basketball Writers Association as well as the Northeast Conference (NEC) on Monday.
Morales shared Met Writers Player of the Week honors with Seton Hall's Myles Cale, while sharing NEC Player of the Week honors with LIU's Ty Flowers. Morales is the first Seahawk to pick up Met Writers Player of the Week honors since Blake Francis won the award in January 2018.
On Friday, Morales led Wagner to a thrilling 92-85 overtime victory at LIU. Morales finished with 35 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and three assists, becoming the first Division I player since 2018 and just the fourth over the last decade with at least 35 points, 12 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals in a game. The Paterson, NJ native scored 12 of his 35 points in the overtime period.
Two days later, Morales contributed 12 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals in a 71-57 victory over Merrimack.
The reigning NEC Player of the Year is the first player this season to win four NEC Player of the Week awards.
Morales ranks in the NEC top-7 in scoring (17.3, fourth), rebounding (7.5, fourth), assists (3.8, third), steals (2.1, second), 3P percentage (.406, seventh), FG percentage (.556, sixth), FT percentage (.806, fourth) and A/TO ratio (1.5, fifth).
The award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college basketball, honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Morales is the only Northeast Conference (NEC) player featured on the list.
Going For The Sweep
In the first meeting between the two teams, Wagner overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half to earn a 72-64 victory over Saint Francis U in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams.
The Seahawks trailed 20-10 with 12:35 to play in the first half, but used an 11-2 run during the last 3:06 of the first half to take a 31-30 lead on a three by graduate student
Elijah Ford with time expiring in the period.
Mason's Milestone Victories
Wagner's win over Fairleigh Dickinson marked the 100
th career victory in conference play for head coach
Bashir Mason, who became the 11
th coach in NEC history to reach the century mark.
Earlier this season, Mason earned his 150
th overall victory against Fairfield. Mason is already Wagner's winningest coach in the Division I era and reached the milestone in 276 games, winning more than 54% of his games
Mason was named to the Athletic's "40 Under 40 – Rising Stars In Men's College Basketball" list.
According to the article, which features Mason at #15, Mason "has established himself as one of the top mid-major coaches in America."
Last season, Mason entered elite territory, becoming just the second coach in the conference's 40-year history to win three Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honors, joining NEC Hall of Fame coach Howie Dickenman, who earned the distinction four times in his storied career at CCSU.
Following the 2020-21 season, Mason was also a finalist for the 2020-21 Hugh Durham Award, which is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.
Wagner's head coach was also a finalist for the Ben Jobe award, which is presented annually to the top Division I minority coach.
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 and is the fastest coach to win 100 games in Seahawk history.
Scouting The Red Flash
Saint Francis U comes into Thursday's game with a 7-12 overall record and 3-5 mark in NEC play. Most recently, the Red Flash earned two straight victories over Sacred Heart and CCSU.
The Schedule
Following Thursday's game against SFU, the Seahawks will travel to St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 pm.
