Box Score (XML) | Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)

Pictured Above: Freshman guard JoJo Cooper (Photo by T.J. Root)

Post Game Recap (by Cormac Gordon, Staten Island Advance)

Fairfield, CT – Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler), the Northeast Conference's (NEC) leading scorer, continued his hot hand with a game-high 22 points and the Wagner men's basketball team shot 51 percent from the floor, but the Seahawks could not keep pace with the league's top offensive team in falling to Sacred Heart 86-75.

With the loss, the Green & White fall to 6-5 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play and 8-14 overall while the Pioneers improve to 4-7 in the league and 10-14 on the season.

Freshman guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) and junior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan/Rhode Island) added 14 and 11 points, respectively, for the Seahawks.

Evan Kelley led a balanced Pioneer effort with 19 points, Cane Broome and Jordan Allen supplied 16 and 13 points, respectively. De'Von Barnett finished with 11 while Tevin Falzon chipped in with 10. 

Midway through the first half, the Seahawks took their biggest lead of the game on a corner three-pointer by Burton off a feed from freshman guard Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD / Potomac / Mt. Zion Prep). The Pioneers then answered with a 12-0 run, capped by layup by J.Allen, in opening a 25-17 lead. A bank shot from in close by Aaman snapped the run and sparked an 8-2 Seahawk burst which made it a one-possession game at 27-25 before SHU closed the stanza by outscoring Wagner 19-12 in seizing a 42-31 lead at intermission.  For the half, Wagner shot 50.0 percent from the floor while the Pioneers shot 56.7 percent while owning an 18-10 edge in the rebounding department.

The Pioneers opened their biggest lead of the game of 18, at 77-59, before the Seahawks rallied to within 10 at 79-69 on three-pointer by freshman guard Aaren Edmead (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) with 2:17 to go but that is as close as the Seahawks would get.

The Seahawks finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field (28-of-55), their highest shooting percentage game of the season, while converting on 38.5 percent from long range (5-of-13).

Despite both teams finishing with 31 rebounds, Sacred Heart scored 54 of their 86 points in the paint while allowing the Green & White to scored 38 of their 75 points inside the lane. SHU converted 22 points off 17 Wagner turnovers.

The Seahawks will host NEC-leading St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, February 7 at 4:00 pm in the second game of a doubleheader with the Seahawk and Terrier women's teams set to kick things off at 1:00 p.m.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department and on the men's basketball program and head coach Bashir Mason (@BashirMason) for news on the third year head coach