Pictured Above: Junior guard Devin Liggeons (photo by Dave Saffran)
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Staten Island, NY – Senior guard
JoJo Cooper recorded 17 points and 10 assists, junior guard
Devin Liggeons added 15 points to go with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Wagner held the Northeast Conference's (NEC) top offensive team 20 points below its season scoring average in running past Saint Francis U 73-64 on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center.
With the win, the Seahawks, who are the NEC's top defensive team, allowing just 69.2 points an outing, improve to 12-6 overall, 5-2 in the NEC and are now a perfect 9-0 in home games. With the loss, the Red Flash fall to 10-8 on the season, 4-3 in league play.
Playing without a pair of starters in sophomore guard
Blake Francis, who leads the team in scoring at 18.1 points per game, and freshman forward
Nigel Jackson (6.7-point average), Wagner trailed 32-25 at halftime.
The Seahawks, however, roared out of the gates following intermission, exploding on a 20-2 run over a span of 7:14 to take control of the game, at 45-34, and SFU never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
After Jamaal King opened the second half for the Red Flash by sinking two free throws, Wagner reeled off 20 unanswered points. The Green & White opened the second half just 1-of-4 from the floor, but then caught fire, making an incredible eight consecutive shots in seizing command of the contest.
Liggeons and senior guard
Shack Scott led Wagner's 20-0 surge with eight and six points, respectively, with six of Liggeons' points coming on a pair of three-pointers.
The Seahawks wound up at 57 percent shooting, knocking down 16 of their 28 attempts while holding SFU to just 36 percent, as the Red Flash were 10-of-29 from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Redshirt junior guard
Romone Saunders was the third Seahawk in double figures in this night, hitting for 14 points, along with seven rebounds and four assists. Scott and freshman guard
Chase Freeman, who was pressed logging a career-long 34 minutes of action in Francis' absence, wound up with eight and six points, respectively.
With Wagner on top 60-48 after a one-of-two trip to the foul line by Cooper with 5:18 to play, the Red Flash had one last gasp in them, going on an 11-4 run, capped by a Keith Braxton three-pointer that made it a 64-59 game with 1:31 left.
After Liggeons split a pair from the line to increase the lead to 65-59, Wagner forced Mark Flagg into a missed layup in traffic which was rebounded by redshirt junior forward
AJ Sumbry, who was fouled in the process. Just a 55 percent foul shooter entering the game, the 6-8 Sumbry calmy swished both clutch free throws, pushing the lead to eight at 67-59 with 55 seconds to go.
Saunders and Cooper then combined to make five of their final six free throws to seal the win.
For Cooper, tonight's double-double was his fifth of the season and eighth of his career. In 109 career games as a Seahawk, the 6-0 Delaware native has led or tied for the team lead in assists and astounding 70 times, including 16 of 18 this season.
Liggeons, meanwhile, registered the first double-double of his career, with his 12 rebounds tying a career high which he set on February 18, 2017 at St. Francis Brooklyn.
SFU also placed three players in double figures, led by Flagg's 18 points, while Andre Wolford and Braxton added 13 and 11 points respectively.
The rematch from last season's NEC semifinals kicked off with both teams trading baskets before the Seahawks jumped out to an 18-9 lead thanks in large part to a 14-6 run over a six-minute stretch when the Green & White went 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond-the-arc, while limiting the Red Flash to just two made field goals and three turnovers.
Saint Francis made a run of its own, using a 15-4 spurt in retaking the lead at 24-22 at the 4:17 mark of the stanza after Wolford made a layup off the feed from Malik Harmon. The run was part of a larger 23-7 outburst in which the visitors entered the break with 32-25 lead.
Over the 12-minute run, the Seahawks struggled to find their momentum, going 3-of-11 from the field while committing nine turnovers as opposed to the Red Flash, who capitalized on the Seahawks mishaps by converting 8-of-15 from the floor thanks to a combined 14 from Wolford, Meredith and Braxton.
The Seahawks shot 40.7 percent from the field (11-of-27) but struggled from the outside, connecting on just 2-of-8 from long range. Wagner held a 17-13 edge on the boards while the Green & White was able to score 18 of its 25 points from inside the paint. Saint Francis U scored 12 points off Wagner's ten turnovers and got key contributions from its bench, outscoring Wagner 10-2 in the opening frame.
With the victory, head coach
Bashir Mason is just one victory shy of the 100-win mark in his six-year career.
Wagner concludes its mini two-game homestand on Saturday, January 20, when the Seahawks welcome Robert Morris in a 4:00 p.m. start, a contest that will follow the 1:00 p.m. game between the Seahawks and RMU's women's teams.
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