West Hartford, CT – A three-pointer by graduate student
Curtis Cobb III with 30 seconds remaining pulled the Wagner College men's basketball team within four points at 64-60, but it wasn't enough, as Hartford pulled away late for a 71-63 victory on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, Wagner falls to 2-6 on the season, while the Hawks improve to 5-7 this year.
Junior
Alex Morales led the Seahawks with 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Juniors
Chase Freeman and
Nigel Jackson were the other two Seahawks in double figures, adding 11 and 10 points, respectively.
After the Hawks had extended their lead to double digits midway through the second period, a jumper by Jackson and three by Freeman made it 58-49 with 2:59 to play, before four consecutive field goals by Morales brought the Seahawks within striking distance at 62-57 with less than a minute to play.
The Hawks fought back, converting their free throw attempts and hanging on for the eight-point victory.
Both teams were knotted at 38-38 on the glass and each scored 26 points in the paint on the day, but Hartford held a 33-11 advantage at the free throw line.
In the first half, a pair of free throws by junior
Will Martinez gave Wagner its lone lead of the afternoon at 26-25 with 1:19 to play. A 6-1 run to close out the period gave the Hawks a 31-26 advantage at the halfway point. The Hawks held Wagner to 27.6% shooting from the floor in the first period, with Morales, Jackson, and Martinez each scoring six points in the first period.
By scoring eight points on the day, Cobb moved within four points of scoring 1,000 overall points in his career.
Two weeks after his collegiate debut, freshman
Darion Jordan-Thomas earned his first start as a Seahawk.
Next up, the Seahawks will travel to Philadelphia to take on La Salle on Wednesday, December 18, at 7:00 pm.
