Pictured Above: Team captain
Romone Saunders
Box Score
Staten Island, NY – Redshirt senior guard
Romone Saunders poured in 26 points to lead four players in double figures as the Wagner men's basketball team cruised to a 90-58 victory over SUNY Cortland, giving the Seahawks their first victory of the season.
With the win, which came on the heels of road losses at Seton Hall and UMass Lowell, the latter an overtime affair on Sunday, Wagner improves to 1-2 on the season with Division III Red Dragons fall to 1-1.
The 6'3" Saunders scored 20 of his 26 points in the opening half as the Seahawks cruised to a 54-16 lead at the break. While the second half was played on more even terms, the outcome was never in doubt.
Saunders, whose 26 points came on 9-of-17 shooting, added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal. Senior guard
Elijah Davis added 17 points on the night, to go with five assists, while senior guard
Devin Liggeons and junior guard
Jeff Coulanges added 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Liggeons' productive evening came up just one rebound shy of a double-double as the Philadelphia native added nine rebounds to his 14-point offensive game. Redshirt senior forward
AJ Sumbry delivered his third straight efficient outing, tallying seven points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds.
For Coulanges, a first-year Seahawk who transferred in from Daytona State College, the 11-point outburst is a career high. Several other first-year Seahawks recorded career highs, including junior forward
Chance Anderson (eight points, six rebounds), and freshman guard
Tyrone Nesby IV (five points, four rebounds), the latter of whom made his first career start.
All told, the four Seahawk newcomers who saw action tonight - Anderson, Nesby, Coulanges, and freshman guard
Jonathan Norfleet - combined for 24 points, 19 rebounds and four assists.
The Seahawks' held a significant advantage in every major statistical category, holding a distinct edge edge in shooting percentage (53%-31%), rebounding (54-24), assists (16-7), points in the paint (34-10), fast break points (12-2) and bench points (36-22).
For Cortland, the Red Dragons were led by guard Nicky Bonura who had 17 points, while Ben Walters and Ryan Schmadel added 11 points apiece.
Prior to tonight, the last time Wagner had faced a Division III foe was on November 21, 2017 when the Seahawks knocked off the College of Staten Island (CSI), 107-64, at the Spiro Center. SUNY Cortland, meanwhile, was playing its first regular-season game versus a Division I opponent since the 1993-94 season when Cortland played at Cornell in December, 1993.
The Seahawks are next in action on Saturday, November 17 when they head back on the road to face the Fairfield University Stags of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), who dropped a 89-87 home decision to fellow Northeast Conference rival LIU Brooklyn this evening.
The 90 points scored by Wagner tonight mark the first time the Seahawks have hit for 90 or more points since February 15, 2018 when the Green & White posted a 99-84 win at Sacred Heart.
NOTE: The Seahawks were without the services of sophomore forward
Nigel Jackson and sophomore guard,
Chase Freeman, each of whom are working their way back from minor ankle injuries.
Follow Us: #CHAOSonthehill
Wagner Athletics
Men's Basketball:
Head Coach
Bashir Mason:
