Pictured Above: Redshirt Junior Guard Romone Saunders (By Gabriel Rhodes)

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Loretto, PA – In front of a national television audience on ESPNU, and led by a career-high 30-point outburst from redshirt junior guard Romone Saunders, Northeast Conference (NEC)-leading Wagner earned a resounding 91-61 victory at preseason league favorite Saint Francis U to complete a season sweep of the Red Flash at DeGol Arena on Friday night.
 
In posting their second win over Saint Francis U in eight days, having defeated the Red Flash 73-64 at home on January 25, the Green & White improve to 14-6 on the season, 7-2 in NEC play, while SFU falls to 11-9 overall and 5-4 in league.
 
Saunders' career night came on 12-of-18 shooting, which included 5-of-8 accuracy from three-point range. The 6'3" Saunders also led Wagner in rebounds with seven. Saunders' 30-point outing marks the first time since March 1, 2017 when Michael Carey erupted for 32 against the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights in the NEC quarterfinals. 

Sophomore guard Blake Francis, who did not play in last week's win over SFU due to an injury, added 22 points after going 8-of-11 from the field, highlighted by an eye-popping 6-of-8 from beyond the arc. For Francis & Saunders, this marks the second time this season in which a pair of teammates have eclipsed 20 or more points as both Francis and junior guard Elijah Davis each went for 20 points at home against UMass Lowell back on December 5. 
 
Senior guard JoJo Cooper, the reigning Metropolitan Writers Association and NEC Player of the Week, who was coming off of consecutive double-doubles, hit for 10 points while adding eight assists and four rebounds. Junior guard Devin Liggeons was the fourth Seahawk in double-digit, as he also tallied 10 points, to go with five rebounds. Wagner is now 5-1 this season when four players score in double-figures and are 36-11 all-time under head coach, Bashir Mason, who earned his 101st career victory. 

Wagner shot a scorching 55 percent (33-of-60) on the evening, which is the second-best shooting game by the Seahawks this season, behind only the 56.4 percent night vs. UMass Lowell (12/5).  The Seahawks' league-leading defense limited SFU to 40.9 percent shooting while the 61 points scored are a season low for the Red Flash.
 
The Green & White raced out to a 46-33 halftime lead and went on to hold a double-digit scoring margin over the Red Flash for the entire second half. SFU managed to cut the deficit to 10 at 51-41 on a Mark Flagg layup with 14:41 left to play.
 
The Seahawks then went on a 17-9 run, keyed by consecutive three-pointer from Francis and capped by a three-pointer by senior guard Shack Scott, in building a comfortable 68-50 bulge with 8:59 left.
 
Saint Francis U was led by Jamaal King's 17 points, while Keith Braxton and Randall Gaskins added 13 and 10 points respectively.
 
Saint Francis U got on the board first in this one on a Gaskins jumper but Wagner responded with its first points of the contest when Saunders dialed up his first three-pointer of the night from just left of the top of the key.
 
The Red Flash took what would prove to be their final lead of the game at 6-3 after back-to-back baskets from Braxton and King. The Seahawks then countered with a 19-4 run over a 6:09 stretch in taking a 22-10 advantage. During the run for Wagner, the Green & White converted on 7-of-9 from the field while hitting 4-of-5 from long range, while at the same time, holding SFU to just 1-of-4, a made three-pointer from Andre Wolford.
 
Saint Francis trimmed the deficit to six, 24-18, with 8:11 left in the frame, as the Red Flash went on an 8-2 spurt before Wagner regained its momentum, using a 9-2 outburst of its own, as the Seahawks held the Red Flash without a made field for over three minutes in taking a 33-20 with under five minutes remaining till halftime.
 
In the final minutes of the stanza, Saint Francis U brought the Wagner lead to single digits, 38-30, after Braxton hit a pair from the charity stripe. A corner three-pointer by freshman guard Chase Freeman' off a feed from Cooper, propelled the lead back up to ten, 41-31. Wagner would then close out the first half by scoring five of the final seven points in taking a 46-33 halftime lead.
 
The Seahawks shot a blistering 57.1 percent from the floor (16-of-28) in the opening half while converting on 53.8 percent from deep (7-of-13) and holding a 16-13 edge on the boards. Saunders and Francis each reached double figures in the half, led by Saunders' 18, which came on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 marksmanship from long range. Francis added ten points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
In addition to tying the all-time series with SFU at 36-36, tonight's win marked Wagner's first season sweep of the Red Flash since the 2013-2014 season. With the victory, coach Mason now holds a career record of 8-4 against Saint Francis U and is 4-2 when facing the Red Flash at DeGol Arena.  The Seahawks, who have now won five of their last six game and are 6-1 in the month of January, will be looking for their first four-game sweep of Saint Francis U and Robert Morris since the 2002-03 season. 
 
Next up for the Green & White is a 2:00 p.m. Sunday showdown at Robert Morris. Wagner will also be seeking a season sweep of the Colonials, who Wagner defeated by a 62-49 count at home last Saturday. RMU entered tonight's home game with Sacred Heart at 12-9 overall, 6-2 in NEC play.
 

 
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