Pictured Above: Senior guard JoJo Cooper and redshirt junior guard Romone Saunders (phoo by Dave Saffran)
2018 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament Headquarters
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Staten Island, NY – Senior guard
JoJo Cooper tossed in 20 points to lead four players in double figures as the top-seeded Wagner men's basketball team earned a 73-61 win over Central Connecticut in Northeast Conference Quarterfinal action on Wednesday night at the Spiro Sports Center.
With the victory, the Seahawks will now host seventh-seeded Robert Morris on Saturday, March 3 at 2:00 p.m. in a contest that will be carried on ESPN 3. The Colonials advanced to the semis with a 60-56 upset win at second-seeded Mount St. Mary's.
Wagner improves to 22-8 on the season following tonight's victory while the Blue Devils finish with a season mark of 14-18.
Redshirt junior guard
Romone Saunders added 18 points and 10 rebounds in posting his second consecutive double-double for the Seahawks, while sophomore guard
Blake Francis and freshman forward
Nigel Jackson supplied 17 and 10 points, respectively.
The teams traded baskets for much of the opening half as the game was tied 14-14 after 11 minutes of play with as both Wagner (6-of-15) and CCSU (4-of-10) hitting 40 percent from the floor during this stretch.
The Seahawks built their largest lead of the half, 21-14, thanks to a 7-3 spurt over a two-minute span. The Blue Devils answered back, scoring nine of the next 13 points over a near three-minute stretch in cutting the lead to just two, 25-23, as Joe Hugley capped the run with a three-pointer.
Wagner closed out the first half by outscoring CCSU, 9-5, in taking a 34-28 lead into the intermission. Francis was the leading scorer for the Green & White, hitting for a team-high 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field in his 19 minutes of action. Cooper added in eight points in the opening half, while supplying four helpers in the half in 20 minutes of action.
Leading 34-28 at the half, Wagner opened the second half on a 14-6 run, capped by a Francis jumper, in taking a 48-34 lead with 14:10 left to play. The Seahawks then outscored CCSU 11-7 over the next 4:50, capped by a three-pointer by junior wing
Elijah Davis in building their biggest lead of the game, an 18-point bulge at 58-41 with 9:30 left.
With the near-capacity crowd of 1,838 making its presence felt, the Blue Devils clawed their way back into the game, embarking on a 14-3 run over a near four-minute stretch, with a Joe Hugley three-pointer completing the run to make it a seven-point game at 62-55 with 5:47 left.
With Wagner on top 64-58 and less than three minutes to play, junior
Devin Liggeons pulled down a key offensive rebound in traffic and dished to an open Cooper in the deep right corner. The Wilmington, DE native did the rest, calmly knocking down the three-pointer at the 2:33 mark to push the lead back to nine at 67-58, and were able to pull away for the 73-61 win.
Hugley led all scorers with 22 points off the bench for Central Connecticut while Tyler Kohl and Austin Nehls adding 15 and 10 points, respectively. Thanks in large measure to the defensive effort turned in by Saunders on Kohl, the Blue Devils' leading scorer was held to just 4-of-17 shooting from the field.
Wagner outshot CCSU 49 percent to 34.9 percent, and led in rebounds (34-27), points in the paint (20-12), points off turnovers (17-7) and in fast break points (8-0). The Blue Devils held a 30-14 advantage in bench scoring, thanks in large part to Hugley's 22-point effort
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