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Staten Island, NY - Sophomore
Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) paced four double-figure scorers with 11 points and 10 rebounds while notching his first career double-double in lifting Wagner to a 72-54 victory over Saint Francis (PA) in Northeast Conference (NEC) action at the Spiro Sports Center. With their fourth-straight win, the Seahawks improve to 19-4 and 10-2 in the NEC while the Red Flash falls to 5-18 and 4-8 in the league.
The Green & White has limited the opposition to just 56.8 points per game during its four-game winning streak while forcing the teams to just 37.4 percent shooting, including a miniscule 21.1 percent (12-57) from long range.
Wagner was in total control throughout, thanks to a season-best +16 rebounding margin (50-34), including posting an 18-5 advantage on the offensive end that led to a 22-10 differential in second-chance points. The bench also recorded a season-high 36 points and was paced by the aforementioned Thompson, who grabbed seven of his game-high 10 caroms on the offensive end, and sophomore
Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep), who notched 10 points and six rebounds over just 12 minutes of action.
After Stephon Whyatt opened the game's scoring with a jumper, the Seahawks ripped off 12-straight points in opening a 12-2 lead at the 11:46-mark of the first on a pair of
Kenneth Ortiz (So., Newark, NJ / Science Park / Southern Mississippi) free throws. Saint Francis (PA) would keep things close until Wagner used a 10-0 run that took just over two minutes, extending the lead to a half-high 17 at 35-18 with 3:52 until halftime, capped by two
Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / CC of San Francisco) free throws. The Seahawks would enter intermission up 39-24 thanks to 10 first-half points from sophomore
Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)).
The Red Flash opened the second half with a 7-2 run, cutting Wagner's lead to 41-31 with 17:07 to play following a Scott Eatherton layup. After the Seahawks misfired on the other end, Rivers stole the ball and senior
Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce), the NEC's leading three-point shooter (52.4 %), drained his only triple of the game while catapulting an 11-2 run that was capped by the first of Thompson' two three-point plays, pushing the lead out to an insurmountable 52-33 with 13:50 to play.
Wagner's advantage would grow to a game-high 23 at 65-42 with 5:13 to play, thanks to a three-point play from freshman
Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus), before Thompson notched his second. The Seahawks would go on to win 72-54 while improving to a perfect 16-0 when holding the opposition to under 70 points and 14-1 when hitting the 70-point mark on offense.
Joining Thompson and Parker in double-figures were Rivers, who scored all 10 of his points in the first half to go along with four assists and four rebounds, and Williams, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Moody added eight rebounds, seven points and three blocks in 19 minutes off the bench, rounding out the top performers on offense for the Green & White.
Eatherton paced Saint Francis (PA) with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Whyatt and Anthony Ervin each chipped in with 10 points.
Wagner remained tied with St. Francis (NY) at 10-2 in the NEC with each team still one game behind defending league champ LIU Brooklyn (11-1 NEC).
The Seahawks return to action on Wednesday, February 8 at 7:00 pm at Mount St. Mary's in the first of two games next week with the Mountaineers.
