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Brooklyn, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team will open Northeast Conference (NEC) play on Thursday afternoon, when the Seahawks take on LIU at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Start Of Conference Play
Wagner is the only team with a winning record in the NEC heading into conference play, finishing the non-conference slate with a 7-4 record that included impressive victories over Temple, Fairfield, Stony Brook and NJIT.
Wagner jumps into NEC play as the league's highest rated team in both the NET and KenPom rankings and is undefeated at home at 4-0 on the season.
Hunt Earns Player Of The Week Honors
Junior
DeLonnie Hunt was named NEC Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.
Hunt led Wagner to a 2-0 week ahead of the holiday break, averaging 17.5 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists, and two steals across the Seahawks' victories over Delaware State and Gwynedd Mercy.
At Delaware State, Hunt led the Seahawks with 22 points and eight rebounds, scoring the most points by a Seahawk in a game this season while connecting on 4-6 attempts from long distance, as the Seahawks prevailed 58-51.
Two days later, Hunt's 11 first-half points set the tone in the Green and White's 89-55 victory over Gwynedd Mercy. Hunt finished the game with 13 points and five assists.
Brown Continues To Impress
Senior
Brandon Brown is the NEC's leading rebounder at 8.4 rebounds per game. Brown tied for the league lead with his third double-double of the season, logging 15 points and 13 rebounds - both season-highs - in last Tuesday's 58-51 road victory at Delaware State. For his efforts, Brown was named an NEC Prime Performer last week.
Taking Care Of The Ball
The Seahawks rank 19
th in the country at 10.5 turnovers per game. Wagner also leads the NEC in assist/turnover ratio at 1.21.
Individually,
DeLonnie Hunt is the NEC leader with a 2.69 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Program DNA
Wagner's success once again derives back to its defense. Wagner ranks first in the NEC and 65
th in the country in scoring defense at 63.7 points per game while leading the conference in field goal percentage defense (41.8%).
Dominating The Glass
Wagner ranks first in the NEC in rebounds per game (36.36). With 12.55 offensive rebounds per game, the Seahawks rank among the top-50 teams nationally.
Scouting The Sharks
LIU enters conference play with a 2-10 record under first-year head coach Rod Strickland. Most recently, the Sharks finished non-conference play with a 95-58 victory over Purchase.
The Series
Wagner has won seven out of its last nine games against LIU, including a three-game sweep last season.
After two highly-contested regular season victories, the Seahawks earned a spot in last year's NEC Championship game with an 82-62 win over the Sharks in front of a sellout crowd at the Spiro Sports Center in the last meeting between the two teams.
Up Next
Wagner will host Merrimack on Saturday at 1:00 pm on NECFrontRow for the Seahawks' first home conference game of the season.
