BOX SCORE
Staten Island, NY – In a hotly-contested, defensive affair that featured a series of runs by both teams, St. Francis (NY) made the final run of the game, outscoring turnover-plagued Wagner 10-1 over a decisive three-minute stretch down the wire in pulling away for a 60-53 victory.
In suffering their eighth straight loss, the Seahawks fall to 2-17, 0-6 in the NEC while the Terriers improve to 7-9, 4-2 in league play.
Wagner trailed 50-49 with 3:48 to play following a three-pointer by sophomore guard
Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/Apex Academies) before the Terriers embarked on the 10-1 run, keyed by a three-point play from guard Ricky Cadell,, who hit a driving layup with 1:47 to go and was fouled by sophomore guard
Tyler Murray (Toronto, CA/Eastern Commerce). Cadell converted the free throw and the three-point play, which followed a made free throw by Kayode Ayeni, gave St. Francis (NY) a five-point bulge at 54-49.
Cadell and Ayeni then hit consecutive layups, the latter giving the Terriers a 58-49 lead with 57 seconds left in the game, and St. Francis (NY) hung on from there.
Wagner led 28-26 at halftime after building its biggest lead of the game of five at 24-17 following a dunk by freshman forward
Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) with 5:32 left in the half. The Seahawks were hot from the perimeter at the outset as 18 of Wagner's first 22 points came via the three ball with Murray and Martin each hitting three shots from beyond the arc in the game's opening 14 minutes.
Martin, who was questionable to play due to a sprained ankle, paced Wagner in scoring with 16 points off the bench while Murray added 14 points, which is one shy of his career high. Martin finished 4-of-7 from three-point range and Murray was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Senior center
Michael Orock (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken), who was averaging 18.6 points over his last five games, was held to four points on the evening.
Wagner out-shot St. Francis (NY) 46 percent to 39 percent but was undone by 22 turnovers. The Terriers, who were led by Cadell's 22 points, meanwhile, turned the ball over just 11 times. St. Francis (NY) out-rebounded the Seahawks 33-31.
The Seahawks are next in action on Thursday, Jan. 21 when they travel to LIU for a 7:30 pm tip-off vs. the Blackbirds.
