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Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team will aim for its 15
th straight victory on Saturday, as the Seahawks play host to Merrimack at the Spiro Sports Center, with tip-off schedule for 1:00 pm.
Last Time Out
Wagner extended the nation's longest active win streak on Thursday night with a convincing 69-57 win over Mount St. Mary's.
With the victory, Wagner stayed perfect at 13-0 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, extended its win streak to 14 games, while remaining undefeated at 9-0 at the Spiro Sports Center and improving to 17-2 overall.
In a nationally televised rematch of last year's NEC Semifinal game, graduate student
Alex Morales once again led the Seahawks with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.
Seahawks Soar In The Rankings
Following another successful week that included wins over Central Connecticut and LIU, Wagner climbed to 14
th in the Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, released by collegeinsider.com.
Wagner improves two spots compared to last week and has now been ranked for five consecutive weeks while remaining the lone Northeast Conference (NEC) school to be ranked in the poll.
In the national rankings, Wagner sits at 109
th in the KenPom rankings and 95
th in the NCAA's Net Rankings.
Historic Win Streak
Wagner's 14-game win streak is the longest active win streak in the country.
The 14 straight victories also set the record for the longest winning streak for a Seahawk team under head coach
Bashir Mason and is the longest winning streak for a Wagner squad since winning 16 straight during the 1978-79 season under P.J. Carlesimo.
The NEC record for most consecutive wins to tip off 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).
Toughness Wins
Wagner's tough style of play reflects in the national rankings. Coming into this week, the Seahawks are 14
th in the country in scoring margin (13.1), 27
th in field goal percentage (47.8%), 33
rd in field goal percentage defense (39.9%), 31
stin rebounding margin (6.0), 27
th in scoring defense (62.4 ppg), and 31
st in turnovers forced (15.89).
Going For The Sweep
In the first meeting between the two teams, Wagner earned a 71-57 road victory at Merrimack.
Wagner jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the contest. In the final minute of the first half, a timely steal by Martinez led to an
Elijah Ford layup, before a bucket by Morales at the halftime buzzer gave Wagner a 30-28 advantage at the midway mark.
The Warriors fought back and cut the deficit to five points with 9:43 to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks pulled away late for the victory.
Scouting The Warriors
Merrimack has lost seven out of its last eight games, including a 60-57 loss against CCSU on Thursday night.
One week ago, the Warriors earned a 65-64 overtime victory over Saint Francis U.
Morales Continues To Dominate
In Wagner's win over LIU,
Alex Morales became the 46th player in school annals to score 1,000 and 242nd in conference history. He hit the millennium mark on a first half three-pointer and boosted his career total to 1,019 points.
Coming into the week, Morales ranked in the NEC top-7 in scoring (17.8, third), rebounding (7.6, fifth), assists (3.8, fourth), steals (1.8, second), FG percentage (.543, seventh), FT percentage (.785, fifth) and A/TO ratio (1.5, sixth).
Morales has won NEC Player of the Week honors a league-best five times.
Earlier this season, Morales was named to the 2022 Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List.
Postseason Picture
With five games remaining, Wagner (13-0) has already clinched quarterfinal host duties at the Spiro Sports Center.
The Seahawks, who have advanced to the semis in six of the last 10 seasons, are in search of the program's second NEC Tournament championship, having won it all back in 2003.
When playing on Staten Island, the Seahawks are 16-13 in NEC Tournament play, including going 12-11 in the Spiro Sports Center (opened February 1999). Wagner is 7-19 in the postseason in road and neutral sites.
The Seahawks won their lone NEC championship in 2003, and reached the NEC final in 1993 (losing to Rider), 2005 (losing to FDU), 2016 (losing to FDU), and 2018 (losing to LIU).
Mason's Milestone Victories
Wagner's win over Fairleigh Dickinson marked the 100th career victory in conference play for head coach
Bashir Mason, who became the 11th coach in NEC history to reach the century mark.
Earlier this season, Mason earned his 150th 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.
The Schedule
Following Saturday's game, Wagner will travel to Sacred Heart on Thursday, February 17 before hosting CCSU on February 19.
