PHOTO GALLERY
HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

Staten Island, NY - Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) stole the show at the first official men's basketball practice of the season, entitled Seahawks Soar At Six! Madness Before Midnight, at the Spiro Sports Center on Friday Night. Competing in the Slam Dunk contest, the high-flying junior garnered a perfect score on his last slam of the night with a dunk over his mother. Click HERE to see the dunk and HERE to hear his thoughts on the slam.

The night began with the introduction of the teams before both squads performed dance routines, capped by this performance from the men's team. The Green & White joined forces with the cheerleaders and dance team to literally rock the Spiro Sports Center.

The women's and men's teams then took part in a co-ed three-point shootout. The Canadian duo of sophomore Laura Amorosa (Kirkland, Quebec / Phillips Academy (MA)) and senior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Canada / Eastern Commerce) claimed the title by a 13-11 count in the finals. Click HERE for Murray's thoughts on the win and the entire night's events.

Next up was the dunk contest, which was judged by Wagner President Dr. Richard Guarasci, former women's basketball student-athlete and current professor Pat Tooker, former Seahawk 1,000 point scorer and current admissions counselor Dedrick Dye and former NBA player and dunking extraordinaire Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins.

Sophomore Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham and Monson Academy (MA)) was the first contestent and had this this nifty 360 jam.

Despite standing just 6-0, classmate Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park) excited the crowd with this outstanding slam off the backboard while freshman Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) also had this nice dunk.

Thompson, however, was the story of the night in the dunk contest, telling the crowd he had something special for "Chocolate Thunder" before bringing his mom out and putting her under the basket. The uber-athletic Thompson then soared over his mom while bringing the crowd to its feet and winning the dunk the contest.

The teams capped the night with a pair of scrimmages as head coaches Gela Mikalauskas and Dan Hurley addressed the crowd while giving fans an inside view of their respective teams.

The women's basketball team opens the season at Army on Friday, November 11 at 7:00 pm before the men's basketball team begins its season with a game at Princeton on Saturday, November 12 at 7:00 pm.

NOTES: Dawkins showed up almost an hour before the event and mingled with fans, signing autographs and taking pictures ... Click HERE to here his thoughts on Wagner College ... The lights were turned off when the teams were introduced to the crowd ... Click HERE to see senior Chris Martin's (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) introduction to the crowd and HERE to see Murray's entrance.

(Photos by Dave Saffran)