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Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team will face the #3-seeded LIU Sharks in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament semifinal on Saturday at 8:00 pm on SNY, ESPN3, and MASN.
Last Time Out
Graduate student
Alex Morales recorded the first Wagner triple-double in the 21
st century and sophomore
DeLonnie Hunt added a career-high 24 points as Wagner earned a dominant 82-53 victory over #7 Saint Francis U in the NEC tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Wagner In The NEC Tournament
This marks Wagner's seventh time as the #2 seed in the NEC Tournament, third under head coach
Bashir Mason, and first since 2014.
Wagner is 4-3 in NEC Tournament action against LIU, formerly known as LIU Brooklyn. The last Wagner win over LIU in the NEC Tournament dates back to March 5, 2016, when the Seahawks earned a 81-65 semifinal win at the Spiro Sports Center.
The Seahawks, who have now advanced to the semis in seven of the last 11 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 17-13 in NEC Tournament play, including going 13-11 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).
Making History
In the NEC quarterfinal win over SFU, Wagner earned its 20
th win of the season. This marks the third time under
Bashir Mason and ninth time in program history that Wagner has won 20 or more games in one season.
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.
Five Seahawks Earn Postseason Awards
Alex Morales became the fourth player in Northeast Conference (NEC) history to repeat as NEC Player of the Year while also earning Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-NEC honors, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Graduate student
Will Martinez and redshirt-senior
Raekwon Rogers were named to the All-NEC Second Team, while graduate student
Elijah Ford earned Third Team All-NEC honors. Freshman
Zaire Williams rounded out the awards with his selection to the NEC All-Rookie Team.
For the full release, click
here
Morales' Historic Night
In front of an excited crowd at the Spiro Sports Center on Wednesday night, Morales recorded 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, recording the 12
th triple-double in the NEC since 1997.
The last know triple-double in NEC Tournament action dates back to 1983, when LIU's Carey Scurry recorded 12 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks in the ECAC quarterfinals on March 9, 1983.
With two more rebounds, the reigning NEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year will become the 13th player in NEC history to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists.
Scouting The Sharks
LIU earned a 82-75 win over Sacred Heart in the NEC quarterfinals. The Sharks enter play with a 16-13 overall record, but are 4-12 on the road this season.
The Season Series
Wagner earned the regular season sweep over the Sharks.
In the first meeting between the two teams, graduate student
Elijah Ford's three at the buzzer sent the game to overtime and classmate
Alex Morales scored 12 of his career-high 35 points in the extra period to give Wagner a thrilling 92-85 road victory on January 21.
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.
Trailing 72-69 with 20 seconds remaining, redshirt-senior
Raekwon Rogers tied the game on a three with 10 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession, LIU's Ty Flowers knocked down a three to put the Sharks back up by three, before Ford's tough buzzer-beater tied the game at 75-75 and sent the game to overtime.
In the second meeting on Grymes Hill, Morales became the 46
th player in program history to score 1,000 points at Wagner while leading the Seahawks with 28 points and 14 rebounds in a convincing 79-64 victory over LIU on February 5.
In yet another dominant performance, Morales scored 28 points on 10-17 shooting while grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Redshirt-senior
Raekwon Rogers was the second Seahawk to record a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while graduate student
Will Martinez added 14 points off the bench.
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
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to Tuesday's NEC Championship game and will face the winner of Bryant and Mount St. Mary's.
