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Highlights / Chris Martin Postgame Interview

Staten Island, NY - Senior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) led five double-figure scorers for Wagner with 20 points as the Seahawks held off a pesky Monmouth squad with 10-straight points late in the second half to break open a one-point game, en route to a 74-67 victory at the Spiro Sports Center. With their seventh-straight win, the Green & White improve to 22-4 and 13-2 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while matching the school's regular season record for wins, which was set by the 2007-2008 squad that finished up at 23-8.

The Hawks turned in the top offensive effort of the season against a Wagner squad that entered the game with the NEC's leading field percentage defense (.399), converting on 52.0 percent (25-49) from the floor. However, Monmouth could not capitalize from beyond the arc, making good on 20.0 percent (2-10) from long range, while struggling from the line to the tune of 55.6 percent (15-27) in falling to 9-19 and 7-8 in the NEC.

The Seahawks connected on a respectable 41.2 percent (21-51) from the floor, but made MU pay from beyond the arc, converting a season-best matching 11 three pointers while making good on 39.3 percent (11-28) of their attempts. Addtionally, the Green & White shot 80.8 percent (21-26) from the line and won the battle of the boards (34-32).

MU sprinted out of the gates with six-straight points en route to building a quick 12-6 lead just under three minutes into the game as the Hawks hit six-straight shots after misfiring on their first attempt. Wagner quickly answered with an 8-0 run, started by a  junior Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / CC of San Francisco) (11) three pointer off an offensive rebound before freshman Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) canned one of his own and a pair from the line, giving the Seahawks their first lead of the game at 14-12 with 14:35 to go until halftime.

The Hawks would quickly answer with six-straight points and led 20-17 at the 9:13 mark of the first, when the Green & White ripped off a game-changing 15-4 run over the next 2:28, reclaiming the lead for good at 32-24 with 6:13 to play until halftime. Murray fueled the run with six points while Williams added five, punctuated by an impressive alley-oop dunk off a nifty pass from sophomore Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park / Southern Mississippi). The teams would continue to jostle, before sophomore Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) hit a jumper with the clock winding down, giving Wagner a 39-33 advantage at intermission.

In the opening half, Monmouth shot a blistering 56.0 percent (14-25) from the floor while scoring 22 of its 33 points in the paint while the Seahawks connected on 42.9 percent (12-28) from the field, including a blistering 53.3 percent (8-15) on threes while outscoring the visitors 24-0 from beyond the arc.

After halftime, the Hawks converted on their first two possessions to make it a one-possession game at 39-37 a minute and a half into the second. Murray immediately answered with a layup before draining his fifth three pointer of the game as the Green & White would go on to score eight-straight points, capped by a Rivers three pointer that made it 47-37 at the 15:13 mark of the half.

The teams then exchanged baskets before Monmouth ripped off eight-straight points to again trim the deficit to two at 49-47 with just under 10 minutes to play. Sophomore Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham and Monson Academy) quelled the Hawk spurt with six-quick points while helping push the lead back out to six with 7:47 remaining.

Down but not out, MU again made it a single-possession game with a 7-2 spurt, capped by an Austin Tillotson layup that cut the deficit to one at 55-54 with 6:12 to play. Tillotson, who was fouled on the play, had a chance to tie the game but saw his free throw attempt rim out as Wagner answered with three free throws that propelled the Seahawks to a 10-0 run, that for all intents and purposes put the game out of reach.

Monmouth would trim the deficit to four on two more occasions but could get no closer before falling 74-67.

In victory, Wagner improved to 22-1 when leading with five minutes, a perfect 19-0 when limiting the opposition to 70 points or less, 16-1 when scoring at least 70 and 9-3 in 10-point games.

Murray, who had made good on just 3-for-20 from long range in four career games against Monmouth, notched game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (7) while converting 5-of-10 from long range. He is now shooting 51.2 percent (65-127) from long range on the year and 44.1 percent (108-441) for his career.Additionally, the 20-point game was also the 12th of his career and the third this season and give him 1,172 career points.

Joining Murray in double-figures were Rivers (13), Williams (11), Burton (10) and Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ /  Apex Academies) (10).

Dion Nesmith led five double-figure scorers for the Hawks with 13 points and a team-best five rebounds.

The Seahawks return to action on Saturday, February 18 at 7:00 pm against Fairleigh Dickinson. Prior to the game Martin, Murray, senior Ryan Schrotenboer (Fort Myers, FL / Bishop Verot) and team manager Tyrik Miller.

Notes: Wagner has now won six of its last seven games against Monmouth ... Former New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms was in attendance and spoke to the team after the game ... Martin scored all 10 of his points after in the final 3:36 of the game and is now 13 points away from being the 39th member of the Seahawks' 1,000-point club ... He also was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line over the final 3:09 while helping to ice the game... Burton's 10 points match his career-high while marking just the second time the North Carolina product has hit for double-figures ... Wagner has won 15 of its last 16 games since losing to Lehigh on December 10 ... With a victory over FDU on Saturday, the Seahawks would match the 2007-2008 team's school-record total of 23 wins while also matching the best-ever NEC start in school history, set by the the 2002-2003 NEC Championship squad that began league play 14-2 ... LIU Brooklyn and Robert Morris each won their 20th games on the year and along with Wagner give the NEC three teams with at least 20 victories for just the second time in the 31-year history of the conference ... The Seahawks also continue to lead all Metropolitan schools with 22 victories, one more than Iona (21 wins).