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Newark, NJ – Coming off a convincing 68-52 victory over Fairfield on Friday night, the Wagner College men's basketball team will travel to Seton Hall on Sunday, with tip-off between the Seahawks and Pirates scheduled for 3:00 pm in a nationally televised game on FS1.
Last Time Out
Three Seahawks scored in double figures and the Wagner defense held Fairfield to 30.6% shooting from the field as Wagner earned a convincing 68-52 victory over Fairfield at the Spiro Sports Center on Friday night.
Junior
DeLonnie Hunt led Wagner with 17 points, while senior
Brandon Brown had another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Graduate student
Jahbril Price-Noel delivered 10 points off the bench in the victory.
Copeland's Homecoming
Sunday's contest will mark a homecoming for Seahawk head coach
Donald Copeland. Copeland spent last season as an assistant coach at Seton Hall and was part of a team that earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament after compiling a 21-11 record along with an 11-8 mark in Big East play.
Copeland was a standout guard at Seton Hall. While a member of the Pirates, the Garden State product helped lead them to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances in his sophomore (2004) and senior (2006) seasons.
In helping lead the Pirates to an 18-12 record and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a senior in 2005-06, Copeland led the Hall in a host of statistical categories including scoring (16.1 ppg), assists (4.5), steals (41), three-pointers (71) and free-throw percentage (84.4). For the season, he ranked third in the Big East in assists per game (5.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.69).
After being named to both the All-Big East and All-Metropolitan Second Teams, Copeland was tabbed as Seton Hall's Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
Dominating The Glass
Through four games, Wagner has been a rebounding force. Coming into the week, the Seahawks ranked eighth in the country and first in the Northeast Conference (NEC) with 16.67 offensive rebounds per game, while sitting 32
nd in the nation in rebounds per game at 44.33, which is also first in the conference.
Against Fairfield, Wagner held a 35-28 advantage on the glass.
Brandon Brown Steps Up
Brandon Brown has been a force on both sides of the court for the Seahawks. Against Fairfield, Brown recorded his second straight double-double.
Entering the weekend, Brown ranked 28
th in the nation and first in the NEC with 10.7 rebounds per game and once again came up with 12 boards against the Stags.
Hunt Leads The Way
Junior
DeLonnie Hunt was once more Wagner's leading scorer against Fairfield. Hunt contributed 17 points on 7-12 shooting and is the Green and White's leading scorer at 14.8 points per game.
Hunt poured in a team-high 19 points on 8-18 shooting, and added four rebounds, three assists and three steals in a 76-73 overtime win at Temple in Wagner's season-opener.
Balanced Offensive Attack
One year after graduating a record-setting four all-conference players, Wagner's offense is receiving contributions from multiple players.
The Seahawks have had at least three players score in double figures in each of their four games, while nine players have scored at least 10 points in one or more contests.
Price-Noel Provides A Spark Off The Bench
A veteran presence on Wagner's bench,
Jahbril Price-Noel continues to provide veteran leadership on the court.
The graduate student came up huge for the Seahawks in the victory over Temple. All three of Price-Noel's field goals came from long range in the final 3:21 of the second half, with two more points coming from the free throw line in overtime.
Against Fairfield, Price-Noel once again scored in double-figures. After the Stags fought back and cut the deficit to seven points with under six minutes to play, a clutch three-pointer by Price-Noel with 4:30 to play extended the lead back to double digits at 52-42, before a big dunk proved to be the exclamation point on Wagner's win.
Scouting The Pirates
Seton Hall enters Sunday's game with a 2-1 record. After victories over Monmouth and Saint Peter's, the Pirates fell to Iowa on Wednesday.
Up Next
Following the thanksgiving holiday, the Seahawks will travel to NJIT on Sunday, November 27, with tip-off set for 2:00 pm.
