Picture Above: Sophomore guard Blake Francis, who scored in double-figures for the eighth straight game, finished with a game-high 19 points (Credit: Dave Saffran)
Staten Island, NY – Sophomore guard
Blake Francis tossed in a game-high 19 points to lead four players in double figures as the Wagner men's basketball team cruised to its sixth consecutive victory, a 75-41 decision over Mercy College this afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center
With the win, Wagner now moves to 7-1 on the season, equaling the program's best start in the Division I era, matching the 7-1 start that a P.J. Carlesimo-coached Seahawk squad got out to in 1979-80. With the loss, Mercy, which is located in Dobbs Ferry, NY, some nearly 50 miles north on Staten Island on Interstate 95, saw its season mark fall to 5-4.
Francis, who has been an offensive model of consistency all season, has now scored 17 or more points in each of the Seahawks' eight contests. The sweet-stroking lefty scored nine of his 19 points in the opening half while senior guard
JoJo Cooper added seven, as Wagner built a 30-18 halftime lead.
The Green & White then put the game out of reach by outscoring the Division II Mavericks 20-6 in building a commanding 55-24 lead midway through the second half.
Cooper wound up with 18 points on the afternoon, while junior swingman
Elijah Davis and redshirt freshman forward
Jamar Brown added 10 points. Freshman guard
Chase Freeman tossed in eight points today while junior guard
Devin Liggeons finished with four points while pulling down a season-high 10 rebounds.
Redshirt junior forward
AJ Sumbry chipped in with three points, to go with nine rebounds and three blocked shots, giving him six straight games of two or blocks.
The Seahawks, while not overly sharp on the offensive end, shooting 40 percent from the floor, their vaunted, displayed high intensity on defense, limiting Mercy to just 24 percent shooting on 14-of-58 shots. Wagner won the battle on the board, 52-39. held a 36-18 edge in points in the paint, while also holding the advantage in points of turnovers (27-10), fas-tbreak points (27-2) and second-chance points.
Dequawne Richards was the lone Maverick to hit for double digits, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while Brendon Smith and Kelvin Howard added six and five points, respectively.
The Seahawks now embark on a three-game road trip, beginning on Saturday, December 16 when they head to Lawrenceville, NJ to tangle with the Rider University Broncs of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
Following the matchup with Rider, Wagner takes on another Garden State foe in the Seton Hall University Pirates of the Big East on Wednesday, December 20 in a 7:00 p.m. at the Prudential Center in Newark. The Green & White then conclude the three-game road trip by flying to Ohio to meet the Dayton University Flyers of the Atlantic 10 on Saturday, December 23 in a 3:00 p.m. contest.
NOTES: Today's victory over Mercy moves head coach
Bashir Mason one win closer to hitting the century mark and the sixth-year head coach, who is currently the sixth youngest head coach in Division I, is now 94-70 during his tenure on Grymes Hill. He is just the fifth Wagner head coach to post 90 or more career victories and the third in the Division I Era of the program which began in the 1976-77 season.
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