Wagner College recaptures share of first place in NEC with 72-51 thumping of Mt. St. Mary's (Cormac Gordon, Staten Island Advance)

Staten Island, NY – Sophomore guard Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) tallied the first 10 points for Wagner and finished with a game-high 22 as the Seahawks completed the season-sweep of the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, 72-51, on Saturday afternoon. 

In earning the regular season sweep of the Mountaineers, the Seahawks improve to 8-4 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and find themselves in a three-way tie for first, along with Fairleigh Dickinson (who lost at St. Francis Brooklyn, 85-71) and Saint Francis U (who defeated Central Connecticut, 91-82). Wagner increased its overall record to 15-8. Mount St. Mary's falls to 10-15 on the year and 7-5 in league play, which puts them in a tie with Sacred Heart for fourth-place after today's contest.

For Henson, this afternoon's 22-point outburst marks the third time this season and in his young career that the Upper Marlboro, MD native hit the 20-point plateau. He converted on 7-of-14 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in 33 minutes of play.  

Reigning NEC Co-Player of the Week, junior guard Michael Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Lamar Consolidated [San Jacinto College]) was the only other Seahawk to reach double-figures, concluding the game with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 23 minutes of action.  

Mount St. Mary's Junior Robinson scored a team-high 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting in 26 minutes of play.  The next closet was Charles Glover, who added nine points on a 1-of-6 shooting performance but capitalized from the charity stripe, going 7-for-7 in 30 minutes of play. Mount had its largest lead of the game at 19-12 as Robinson was able to beat a pair of defenders off the feed from Taylor Danaher.  The Green & White orchestrated a 10-2 run over the next 3:41 to take its first lead since leading 8-6 at the 15:37, as Kadji dialed up a three-pointer off the pass from classmate JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord), to give the home team a 22-21 edge. 

The Mountaineers scored 12 of the next 23 points over a 4:30 stretch that saw the contest knotted at 33, thanks to a mid-range jumper from Danaher after getting the ball from Robinson.  Wagner scored the final four points of the frame, thanks to a left-handed buzz-beating layup from redshirt senior guard Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI/Suttons Bay [Michigan State]), and led 37-33 at halftime. For the half, Wagner shot a blistering 59.3 percent from the field (16-of-27) while limiting the Mountaineers to just nine made field goal attempts. The visitors capitalized from the charity stripe in the opening half, converting on 12-of-16 from the line compared to just a 2-3 start for Wagner. 

When play resumed, Wagner continued its momentum, as graduate forward Henry Brooks (New Orleans, LA/Miller Grove [University of Pennsylvania]) drained a baseline jumper that extended the lead to six, 39-33, before Mount's Troy Henderson responded with a three-pointer off the feed from BK Ashe. On the ensuing possession, Cooper launched a top-of-the-key three that gave the Seahawks a 42-36 lead at the 17:09 mark and sparked a 12-5 rally that saw the lead escalate to 12, 51-39, thanks to a pair of made free-throws from Henson. 

Robinson tried to keep the visitors in the contest, converting on a traditional three-point play, bringing the deficit to nine, 51-42, with 7:51 left in regulation. Wagner scored the next 11 points on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting display, led by Carey, who had six points during this run, helping the Seahawks end the contest on a 21-9 run in picking up its 15th victory of the season, and ninth win this year at the Spiro Sports Center. 

For the game, Wagner defense stifled the Mountaineers, holding the visitors to just 14 made field goals in 41 chances (34.1%) and limiting their conversions from long range (5-of-20). The Green & White shot 50.9% from the field while scoring 16 of its 72 points via fast break opportunities. 

Wagner will be in action on Thursday, February 11 as they make the short trek across the Verrazano Bridge to LIU Brooklyn to tangle with the Blackbirds in a 7:00 pm tip from the Steinberg Wellness Center.