WATCH | Live Stats | Game Notes

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team will take on FDU in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 at the Spiro Sports Center. The game will be broadcast live on NECFrontRow.
 
Setting The Scene
 
Wagner has clinched a spot in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament, but can finish as high as the #4 seed and as low as the #6 seed in the standings.
 
Wagner claims the #4 seed and a home game at the Spiro Sports Center in the quarterfinal round with a win over the Knights on Saturday and a Le Moyne loss at Saint Francis U.
 
Wagner cannot finish higher than fifth with a Le Moyne win in Loretto.
 
The Seahawks will take on Sacred Heart with a loss on Saturday.
 
Council Continues To Impress
 
Junior Melvin Council Jr. was once again named a Northeast Conference (NEC) Prime Performer. Council led Wagner with 25 points against LIU in Sunday's nationally televised win, which marked a season-best in both NEC play and against DI competition. Against Le Moyne, Council scored 21 points to lead the team. The first-year Seahawk entered the week fourth in the conference in scoring (15.0), eighth in rebounding (5.5), sixth in assists (3.7), fifth in FT% (.773) and ninth in steals (1.5).
 
The Wagner DNA
 
At 63.0 points per game, Wagner is 9th in the country in scoring defense while also leading the Northeast Conference (NEC). Wagner held LIU to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor on Sunday, a season-best defensive mark for the Seahawks in league play.
 
Downtown Staten Island

Defensively, the Seahawks hold teams to 30% shooting from long range, good for 20^th in the country. Wagner limited LIU to just one made three-pointer (in 10 attempts), the lowest total in an NEC game this season.

Offensively, Wagner is 5-2 when connecting on nine or more threes per game.
 
Ezquerra Closing In On Milestone

Junior Javier Ezquerra is closing in on 250 career assists. The NEC's active leader has 121 assists on the year and 237 for his career.
 
The Key
 
Sophomore forward Keyontae Lewis has scored in double figures in four of Wagner's last five games. He has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 12-of-15 NEC games this season and ranks first in the league in field goal accuracy in conference play at 60.3 percent.
 
Taking Care Of The Ball

Wagner's 10 turnovers per game are 35th in the country and first in the NEC. As a team Wagner's assist/turnover ratio of 1.34 leads the NEC. Individually, the Seahawks have two of the top three players in the NEC in assist/turnover ratio in junior Javier Ezquerra (2nd / 2.21) and Council (3rd / 2.15).

The Season Series
 
In the first meeting between the two teams, Wagner earned a 66-62 road victory at the Bogota Savings Bank Center.
 
Junior Tahron Allen led all scorers with a season-high 22 points, which included 3-4 accuracy from long range. Sophomore Julian Brown added 15 points, while junior Melvin Council Jr. contributed 10 points in the victory.
 
Wagner led for 30:53 minutes throughout the contest and won thanks to clutch buckets by Ezquerra and Allen late in the game.
 
Saturday's contest marks the 121^st all-time meeting between the schools with Wagner holding a tight 61-59 edge in the long and competitive head-to-head series between schools separated by just 31 miles. 
 
Wagner has won five of the last seven meetings between the two schools, with the teams splitting the regular season series for two consecutive years.
 
Scouting The Knights
 
FDU enters Saturday's matchup with an 8-7 mark in NEC action and most recently fell 74-55 against Merrimack.
 
Just like Wagner, FDU can finish as high as fourth and as low as sixth in the standings going into the NEC Tournament.

Marketing Giveaway
 
We will be giving away a pair of AirPod Pros to one student who entered in the student cash raffle throughout the season!
 
Next Up
 
The NEC quarterfinal round will take place on Wednesday, March 6.