Pictured Above: Senior guard
Elijah Davis
Box Score
Loretto, PA – Senior guard
Elijah Davis matched his career high with 20 points, which included four clutch free throws in the final 21 seconds, redshirt senior guard
Romone Saunders added 18, and Wagner rode a 62 percent second-half shooting effort in earning an 83-79 win at Saint Francis U on Thursday night at DeGol Arena.
In snapping their two-game losing streak, the Seahawks even their overall record at 9-9 and, more importantly, improve to 4-3 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, while the Red Flash fall to 7-11 on the season and 3-4 in league.
Wagner now finds itself in a four-way tie for second place in the NEC standings, along with St. Francis Brooklyn, Sacred Heart, and Bryant.
Other key performers in this entertaining, offensive-minded affair for Wagner included unflappable sophomore point guard
Chase Freeman, who finished with 13 points, four assists and just one turnover in 32 minutes, while redshirt senior
AJ Sumbry bulled his way down low for 12 points and 10 rebounds in recording his team-best fourth double-double of the season.
Also contributing to the win on the Seahawk side were senior guard
Devin Liggeons (8 points, 4 rebounds), freshman guard
Tyrone Nesby IV (7 points in his 3
rd start of the season) and sophomore
Nigel Jackson (5 points off the bench).
Saunders, a bonafide NEC Player of the Year candidate, was his usual versatile self on this night, registering a stat line of 18 points, with a career-tying six assists, to go with five rebounds and three steals.
Wagner built a 26-17 lead in this one midway through the first half before SFU rallied in trimming the Seahawks' lead to 36-35 at the intermission.
The second half was a wild, back-and-forth contest which featured tremendous shooting from both teams, as the high-powered Red Flash were nearly as hot from the floor as Wagner following the break, hitting on 59 percent of their shots over the game's final 20 minutes.
With 4:06 left to play and Wagner on top 72-69, Jamaal King his a jumper for SFU to make it 72-71. Sumbry then hit a layup after receiving a pretty lob entry pass from Saunders at the 3:03 mark to make it 74-71, King answered with a big three-pointer with 2:25 left to forge a 74-74 tie.
That's the way the score stood until Sumbry grabbed an offensive rebound in traffic and laid it in to give the Seahawks a 76-74 lead with 1:26 left.
Following an SFU miss, Saunders nailed a clutch three-point off a Davis feed that widened the lead to 79-74 with just 46 seconds left. A pair of King free throws with 27 seconds left was answered by a pair from Davis at the 21-second mark, putting Wagner in front by five again at 81-76.
Undaunted coming out of a timeout, SFU worked the ball into the deep left corner where Isaiah Blackman drained a three, with a hand in his face, to make it 81-79. Davis was then fouled after receiving the inbounds pass, and with five ticks remaining, calmly sank another pair from the line in sealing the 83-79 victory.
Keith Braxton led the Red Flash with game-high 25 points, Blackman added 12 while King and Andre Wolford finished with 11 points apiece.
For the game, SFU held a slight 51 percent to 47 percent edge in shooting but Wagner led in rebounding (33-30). From the free low line, Wagner shot a robust 85 percent (17-of-20), highlighted by a perfect 10-of-10 showing from the charity stripe in the second half.
This game was tied 15-15 following a Braxton layup with 12:39 left in the half, before the Seahawks went on a quick 11-2 run, kick-started by a
Nigel Jackson layup, and highlighted by a four-point play from Liggeons who was fouled while making a deep corner three-pointer before knocking down the free throw.
Saunders then capped the run by sinking a three in transition off a Freeman feed, which gave the Seahawks their biggest lead of the half, a nine-point 26-17 cushion at the midway point of the opening half.
SFU responded, though, outscoring Wagner 18-10 the rest of the half, wresting a brief 35-34 lead on a pair of Braxton free throws at the 51-second mark before Davis knocked down two freebies of his own with three seconds left in the half to give Wagner a 36-35 lead at the break.
Next up, the Seahawks will look to make their second straight sweep of the western Pennsylvania swing on Saturday in a 5:00 p.m. clash at Robert Morris. This will be no easy task as the Colonials will take an NEC-leading 6-1 record into Saturday's play following tonight's 72-64 home win over Sacred Heart.
NOTES
*With the win, the Seahawks take a 37-36 lead in the all-time series between the schools.
*Wagner is now 13-21 all-time at SFU.
*Seahawk seventh-year head coach
Bashir Mason improves his career record to 9-4 against Saint Francis U and is 5-2 when facing the Red Flash on the road.
*All-time, Wagner is now 12-21 against the Red Flash in Loretto, PA.
*With his 18 points tonight,
Romone Saunders remains in the 27
th-place on Wagner's all-time career scoring list with 1,171 career points, just one shy of Ed Peterson's 1,172 (1953-56).
23. Bob Mahala, Sr. (1950-52, 1955-57) 1,217
24. Tyler Murray (2008-12) 1,216
25. Tom Miller (1971-74) 1,174
26. Ed Peterson (1953-56) 1,172
27. Romone Saunders (2014-pres.) 1,171
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