Pictured Above: Sophomore Blake Francis (Credit: Brian Foley)

Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)

Newark, NJ - Sophomore guard Blake Francis (Herndon, VA / Westfield) tossed in a game and career-high 22 points to lead the Wagner men's basketball team to a 60-49 victory over NJIT in the first-ever game played at the Highlanders' new Wellness Events Center in the season opener for both teams.

Freshman Tyler Plummer (Vaughn, Ontario/Athlete Institute Prep) added 11 points in 21 minutes in his Seahawk debut. Junior guard Elijah Davis (Bronx, NY/Lincoln), corralled a team-high ten rebounds while scoring five points in 27 minutes of play. Senior guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) netted six points while dishing out a game-best six assists and grabbing eight rebounds. 

The Highlanders were paced by Anthony Tarke, who scored a team-high 13 points while Abdul Lewis notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

NJIT jumped out to an early lead after Shyquan Gibbs scored the first-ever basket at the WEC, a three-pointer from the wing and converted the ensuing free-throw after being fouled.

Wagner responded in the form of a 13-4 run over the next eight minutes to go ahead by five, 19-14, after graduate forward Nick Madray  (Mississauga, Ontario/Stephen Lewis [Eastern Michigan]) banked in the layup from the low block. 

NJIT rallied back in taking a 24-21 lead with 3:12 left to go before the break on the heels of an impressive 10-2 run where the Highlanders held the Seahawks to just 1-of-6 shooting from the field over the four minute stretch.

The visitors scored eight of the final 12 points of the frame in taking a one point lead into the intermission at 29-28. 

The second half proved to be as defensive-minded as the first as both teams combined to go 8-of-20 from the field and didn't hit a three-pointer over a near ten-minute stretch before Plummer drilled a three-pointer from the top-of-the-key at the 8:42 mark to close the deficit to one, 42-41. 

Plummer found his rhythm down the stretch, as his layup with 7:08 showing on the clock jump started a 16-6 run for Wagner over the remainder of the contest. The Seahawks were able to hit 14-of-22 from the charity stripe, including draining seven of their final ten attempts to seal the victory. 

Wagner will have a quick turnaround as they will board a flight on Sunday in heading to Columbia, MO to face the University of Missouri Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Mizzou won their opener on Friday evening against Big 12 members, Iowa State. 

The Wagner-Missouri contest will be televised to a national audience on ESPN2 at 8:00 p.m. CST (9:00 p.m. EST) on Monday evening, November 13.


Follow us: #CHAOSonthehill
Wagner Athletics       
Men's Basketball:   
Head Coach Bashir Mason: 
Wagner Gameday: