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Smithfield, RI - The Wagner College men's basketball team will travel to Bryant for the highly anticipated regular season finale on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 pm on ESPN3 and NECFrontRow.
Winner Take All
The winner of Saturday's game will earn the NEC regular season title and the #1 seed in this year's NEC Tournament, as both teams enter the matchup with a 15-2 conference record.
Wagner has clinched a top-two seed in the NEC Tournament and is guaranteed a semifinal home game with a quarterfinal win.
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).
Seahawks Soar In The Rankings
The Wagner College men's basketball team moved up to #13 in the Mid-Major Top-25 Poll, released by collegeinsider.com.
This marks the Seahawks' highest ranking of the season after checking in at #14 on February 7.
Additionally, Wagner received one vote in this week's national Associated Press Top-25 poll.
Making History
Wagner's 15 conference wins matches the most in program history. The Seahawks went 15-5 in 2001-02, along with 15-3 in 2007-08 and 2011-12.
Earlier this season, Wagner's 14 consecutive wins set the record for the longest winning streak for a Seahawk team under head coach
Bashir Mason and was the longest winning streak for a Wagner squad since winning 16 straight during the 1978-79 season under P.J. Carlesimo.
Wagner's 13-0 start in NEC play fell two short of the NEC standard set by 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.
The last conference school to rattle off 13 straight NEC wins was LIU. The Sharks won 13 in a row in 2010-11, a stretch that included three NEC Tournament wins.
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.
Last week, Morales averaged 19.0 ppg on 50.0 percent shooting, and furnished 6.5 rpg, 3.0 apg and 3.0 spg. Morales totaled 18 points six rebounds, five assists and three steals to help lead the 15-1 Seahawks to a 78-68 win over CCSU on Saturday. Morales ranks in the NEC top-7 in scoring (17.9, third), rebounding (7.6, fifth), assists (3.7, sixth), steals (1.9, second), FG percentage (.521, seventh) and FT percentage (.776, seventh).
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.
Toughness Wins
Wagner's style of play is well represented in the national rankings.
Coming into the week, the Seahawks have the sixth-best won-lost percentage in the country (.864) and rank 20
th in scoring margin (11.4), 35
th in scoring defense (63.5), 39
th in field goal percentage (47%), 25
th in turnovers forced (16.09), 29
th in turnover margin (3.3), and 29
th in steals per game (8.5).
Going For The Sweep
In an early candidate for NEC Game of the Year, Wagner earned a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory over Bryant in the first meeting between the two teams.
Tied at 71-71 with under a minute to play, the Bulldogs took the lead on a four-point play by Adham Eleeda. Following two free throws by graduate student
Alex Morales on the ensuing possession, graduate student
Elijah Ford came up with a clutch steal and fed freshman
Zaire Williams for a game-tying layup, setting up the overtime period.
Knotted up at 78-78 in overtime, the Seahawks went on a 6-0 run, as Morales and Ford helped Wagner pull out the win with consecutive buckets. The Bulldogs came within three with one minute to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks earned the victory.
Extra Time
All of Wagner's and Bryant's losses in conference play have come in overtime this season, with Wagner falling against Merrimack and FDU and the Bulldogs losing at Wagner and LIU in overtime.
Scouting The Bulldogs
Bryant enters Saturday's game with a 19-9 overall record and 15-2 conference mark. The Bulldogs have won three straight games, including a 86-69 victory at St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday.
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
Next up, Wagner will host the NEC quarterfinal on March 2. For tickets, visit wagnerathletics.com/tickets.
