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Estero, FL - Wagner cut an 18-point deficit to one in the second half, before dropping a heartbreaking 70-67 decision to St. Bonaventure in the semifinal round of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena.

The Seahawks had a chance to send the game into overtime, but were unable to convert a pair of three-point attempts in the game's final 16 seconds.

Junior Mario Moody (Jersey City, NJ / East Orange Campus) was a beast on offense, hitting for a career-high matching 19 points, on 7-of-14 shooting, while senior Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) notched 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Green & White was Jay Harris (Aurora, IL / Valparaiso) with 14 markers. Helping set up the trio up was reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week Kenneth Ortiz (Sr., Newark, NJ / Southern Mississippi), who finished with eight points and six assists, against just two turnovers.

St. Bonaventure opened the game on a tear in ripping off 14-straight points as the Bonnies converted six of their first seven shots while Wagner misfired on its first seven attempts. The teams would play the rest of the half to a virtual standstill as the Seahawks trailed just 43-31 at intermission thanks to 13 first-half points from Moody.

Charlon Kloof scored five of the first seven points after halftime as SBU jumped in front 48-33 with just over 18 minutes remaining when the Seahawk offense came to life. Harris hit a three pointer, before senior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms) converted a layup and Moody slammed home a steal as the Green & White quickly cut the deficit to single-digits at 48-40 while forcing a St. Bonaventure timeout at the 17:04 mark.

Jordan Gathers would answer with a layup and following a Kloof fastbreak dunk it appeared as though the Bonnies had withstood Wagner's second-half run. However, that was not the case as Harris drilled a triple before Rivers converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 53-48 game with just over 14 minutes to play. 

After the lead rose back out 57-51 at the 12:13 mark following a pair of Matthew Wright free throws, the Seahawks used a 7-2 sput to trim what was once an 18-point lead to just one at 59-58 with 7:55 to play on a Marcus Burton (Jr., Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) three pointer. Unfortunately, the Seahawks were unable to claim the lead as SBU answered with a pair of layups in opening a five-point advantage.

The teams would go back-and-forth over the final five-plus minutes of the game before the Bonnies again appeared to have the game in hand after Marquise Simmons' layup with 1:33 remaining extended the lead to 68-63. Ortiz, however, quickly found senior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy) for an easy dunk and after Youssou Ndoye split a pair at the line, Parker converted on the other end to make it a one-possession game at 69-67 game with just 32 seconds to play.

St. Bonaventure then had to use its final timeout as the Green & White came close to forcing a turnover in the backcourt. After finally getting the ball over halfcourt, Kloof was fouled and hit the first free throw, before missing the second as Parker grabbed the rebound.. After calling timeout, Harris missed a contested three pointer before Rivers misfired as well allowing the Bonnies to escape with a 70-67 victory.

St. Bonaventure shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) for the game, including 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the opening half, but converted just 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from the line. Wagner, meanwhile, shot a respectable 41.8 percent (23-of-55) thanks to making good on almost 50 percent of its attempts after a 0-for-7 start.

The Seahawks won the rebounding battle by a 36-30 advantage, including 13-10 on the offensive end, but were dominated in the paint by a 46-30 margin as all 23 of the Bonnies' two-point field goals came in the shaded area.

Wright scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half to match Moody for game-high honors while adding six assists and two steals over 40 minutes of action. Ndoye added 12 points and eight rebounds while Andell Cumberbatch (11 points) and Kloof (10 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers for SBU.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and Bashir Mason">@BashirMason for news on the second-year coach.

Photography by Dave Saffran