Wagner In The Headlines

Wagner Marches Past Air Force At Cable Car Classic, 72-61 (Staten Island Advance)

Championship Preview (Mercury News)

Danny Hurley Ahead Of Schedule At Wagner (ESPN.Com

Wagner 72 Air Force 61 Postgame Notes

* Wagner improved to 9-1 when leading at the half and with five minutes to play.

* The Seahawks are also now 7-1 when scoring at least 70 points and a perfect 7-0 when keeping opponents under 70.

* The Green & White are a perfect 5-0 when converting more free throws and outrebounding the opposition.

* The +15 rebounding margin matches Wagner's season-best performance against St. Francis (NY) (12/3).

* The Seahawks' 72 points were also the most scored against Air Force in regulation this season.

* The Green & White did not trail after halftime for the second-straight game and have not trailed after halftime in a remarkable eight of their nine victories.

* On the strength of a perfect 20-of-20 showing from the line, Wagner has now converted 27-straight from the charity stripe dating back its last game at #15 Pitt (12/23).  The performance (minimum 15) matches Sacred Heart for the best from the line by a NEC school this year.

* The victory was the Seahawks' first-ever against a team from the Mountain West Conference as the Green & White have now posted wins against teams from six different leagues (BIG EAST, Colonial, Ivy, MEAC, MWC and Patriot).

* The eighth non-conference win is a school-record for Wagner dating back to the school's first year (1981-1982) in the NEC … With a victory tomorrow, the Seahawks will win their 10th game before the end of the calendar year for the first time ever.

* Sophomore Latif Rivers has now hit for at least 20 points seven times in his career with the Green & White going 6-1 in those games.

* The game was the first for Wagner in the state of California since besting Loyola Marymount 82-79 in overtime back on December 22, 2007.

* The Green & White now have wins against schools from six different states (Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania) and will go for number seven against Santa Clara (CA).

* Wagner improves to military academies (2-0 vs. SUNY Maritime, 2-3 vs. Army and 1-1 vs. Air Force) while winning its first game against a team from the state of Colorado while avenging previous losses to Air Force and Colorado (0-2).

* The Seahawks also move to 1-2 against teams from the MWC but were 0-3 at the end of last year. The reason BYU left the conference to join … the West Coast Conference (WCC), which is also represented by Santa Clara.

* Wagner is 3-2 against the league, having previously won three-straight – highlighted by back-to-back wins against Loyola Marymount during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons - before losing to BYU and Jimmer Fredette. The only other victory was against San Francisco.

* Senior Tyler Murray scored 11 points and has 999 for his career and with one more will be the 38th member of the Seahawk 1,000 point club.

* Sophomore Kenneth Ortiz notched 10 points, a career-best matching seven assists and four rebounds. Over the last five games, the Southern Mississippi transfer is averaging 11.2 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 54.3 percent (19-35) from the floor and 78.3 percent (18-23) from the line during that time.

 * Also in those five games, Wagner is 4-1 with Rivers, Williams, Ortiz, Murray and Martin averaging double-figures.

* Folahan recorded a season-best matching 10 points with six rebounds and three blocks. He is averaging a NEC-best 2.0 blocks per game.

* Junior Jonathon Williams narrowly missed his second double-double with nine points and a team-best eight rebounds. His father Dennis was interviewed at halftime while Jonathon served as the postgame guest. To listen to all the interviews as well as the game in its entirety click HERE

* Wagner president Dr. Richard Guarasci and his wife Carin were in attendance as well as Athletic Director Walt Hameline and his wife Debbie. Prior to the game there was a Wagner reception with alumni, current students, employees and parents of students. Over 60 people representing the school were in attendance.

* The Seahawks will face Santa Clara in the 45th Cable Car Championship game with the Broncos going for their 16th team title.

* It will also serve as a reunion between head coaches Kerry Keating of Santa Clara and Dan Hurley of Wagner. Keating played his freshman year at Seton Hall in 1989-1990 before serving as a student assistant coach for three years – the later two with Hurley on the roster.

* The Broncos bested Eastern Michigan 75-55 in the other First Round game.

* Both teams have wins over BIG EAST teams with Santa Clara besting Villanova and Wagner coming out on top against #15 Pitt.

* The game is slated for an 11:15 pm (EST) start but could be delayed by the third-place game between Air Force and Eastern Michigan.

* The Broncos boast Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash and former LA Laker forward Kurt Rambis as some of its basketball alumni.

* Prior to the game, Santa Clara assistant soccer coach and US Soccer legend Brandi Chastain crossed paths with the Wagner basketball team after leaving the practice field. She is most remembered for this classic photo following her shootout-winning shot in the 1999 World Cup.