WATCH | Live Stats | Game Notes
Fairfield, CT – The Wagner College men's basketball team will travel to Sacred Heart on Wednesday for the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament quarterfinal. Tip-off between the Seahawks and Pioneers is set for 7:00 pm on SNY, ESPN3, and NECFrontRow. The Seahawks enter the NEC Tournament as the #5 seed.
Wagner In The NEC Tournament
Wagner is 25-33 all-time in the NEC Tournament after advancing all the way to the NEC title game last year. This marks Wagner's 32
nd NEC Tournament appearance.
The Seahawks are 0-2 all-time against Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament, meeting in consecutive years in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, #2 Sacred Heart earned a 100-68 victory in Fairfield. One year later, the Pioneers and Seahawks met in the NEC semifinals, with Sacred Heart winning 55-49 at the Spiro Sports Center.
The Seahawks are entering the NEC postseason as the #5 seed for the second time ever. In 2001, Wagner earned an 88-83 win at LIU Brooklyn before falling 72-65 against #1 St. Francis Brooklyn in the semifinal round.
The Seahawks are 17-14 all-time in NEC quarterfinal games and have advanced to the semis in eight of the last 11 seasons. Wagner is 7-20 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), 2018 (losing to LIU), and 2022 (losing to Bryant).
After a 9-9 record under Bashir Mason, this will mark the first NEC Tournament appearance for head coach
Donald Copeland. Copeland took part in six conference tournaments as an assistant coach at Wagner from 2015-21. LIU's Derek Kellogg and Jack Perri, FDU's Tom Green and Marist's Dave Magarity are the only head coaches in league history to capture the NEC Tournament in the first season with their clubs. There are no players competing in this year's tournament who possess an NEC Championship ring.
Last Time Out
The Seahawks picked up a 68-58 road victory at Saint Francis U to finish out the 2022-2023 regular season. The Seahawks were led by junior
DeLonnie Hunt's 17 points, while senior
Brandon Brown added 11 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore
Javier Ezquerra was the third Seahawk in double figures with 10 points.
Saint Francis U's Josh Cohen led all players with 29 points, but was limited to just one field goal in the second half, as the Seahawk defense held the Red Flash to 40% (8-20) from the field in the second half.
The Season Series
Both teams split the regular season series and defended their respective home court. At Wagner, Sophomore
Rob Taylor II and junior
Rahmir Moore led the Seahawks with 19 points apiece, while sophomore
Zaire Williams added 12 points off the bench. Senior
Brandon Brown led all players with 11 rebounds to give Wagner a 68-58 win.
As a team, the Seahawks shot 26-47 (55.3%) from the field while holding the Pioneers to 20-49 (40.8%) throughout the contest.
At Sacred Heart, Wagner could not complete a second half comeback. Trailing 38-23 with 14:20 minutes to play, Wagner rallied and cut the Sacred Heart lead to just two points with nine minutes remaining, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks fell 65-56 to the Pioneers. Leading 24-22 at the half, the Pioneers quickly extended their lead to double digits in the first six minutes of the second period. Wagner fought back, as a 17-4 run cut the deficit to just two at 42-40 on a bucket by Hunt with 10:21 to play.
That is as close as the Seahawks would get, however, as the Pioneers pulled away late to preserve the victory.
Hunt And Brown Earn All-NEC Honors
Junior
DeLonnie Hunt and senior
Brandon Brown earned Third Team All-NEC honors, the conference announced on Tuesday. Hunt and Brown are the only two Seahawks to start every contest and average more than 30 minutes per contest.
Throughout the regular season, Hunt led the Seahawks with 11.3 points per game. The 2021 NEC Rookie of the Year scored in double figures 16 times throughout the regular season and logged three or more assists 13 times.
Brown, who earns All-NEC honors in his first year on Grymes Hill, leads the NEC with 9.1 rebounds per game, good for 34
th in the country. Brown ranks second in the league with nine double-doubles on the season, which ranks 53
rd nationally.
Dominating The Glass
With 12.63 offensive rebounds per game, the Seahawks rank 17
th in the country. Wagner also ranks 41
st in the country with a rebounding margin of 4.7. Throughout the regular season, the Seahawks also led the NEC with 35.63 rebounds per game.
Wagner DNA On Display
The Seahawks' tenacious defense ranks 15
th in the country in scoring defense, giving up 61.5 points per game. Wagner has the NEC's best field goal percentage defense (42.8%) and is 54
th nationally in three point field goal percentage defense at 31.5%.
Scouting The Pioneers
Sacred Heart enters Wednesday's NEC quarterfinal with a 15-16 overall mark and finished the regular season with an 8-8 mark in NEC play. The Pioneers earned a home game with a 69-67 victory at Central Connecticut on Saturday.
The Pioneers, however, have lost three of their last five games entering Wednesday's matchup.
Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup will play in the NEC semifinals on Saturday.
