Pictured Above: Junior
Alex Morales
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team outscored Army West Point 47-30 in the second half to earn a convincing 82-62 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center.
"Unbelievable win today," head coach
Bashir Mason commented following the game. "Our guys responded. We've been fighting so hard in practice and these guys have been trying to figure it out in games. In timeouts, those guys had the attitude mentality that we preach every day and I'm so excited for them."
With the win, the Seahawks improve to 3-7 on the season, while the Black Knights fall to 5-6 this year.
The pivotal moment of today's game came midway through the second half, as back-to-back threes by sophomore
Tyrone Nesby IV and graduate student
Curtis Cobb III along with a big rejection on the defensive end by junior
Nigel Jackson capped an 11-0 Wagner run to give the Seahawks a 53-45 lead.
Wagner never looked back, extending the lead to double digits for the first time with 7:34 to play on a pair of free throws by junior
Chase Freeman. Strong defense sealed the victory from there, as the Seahawks held the Black Knights to just 16.7% from long range and 40% from the field in the second half.
Junior
Alex Morales once again paced the Green and White with 21 points to lead all scorers, while Cobb added 18 points. Freeman was the third Seahawk in double figures with 14 points. Morales and Cobb shared the team lead with eight rebounds apiece.
Wagner got off to a hot start, converting five straight three-pointers to jump out to a 15-8 lead just four minutes into the contest, as Cobb connected on two shots from distance. Army fought back and tied the game with nine minutes to play in the first half, but back-to-back field goals by Morales and Nesby to close out the period gave Wagner a 35-32 halftime advantage.
Head Coach
Bashir Mason's zone defense kept Army off balance, resulting in 19 turnovers and a 27-7 advantage in points from turnovers in favor of Wagner.
As a team, Wagner shot 42.6% from the field and converted on 86% of its free throws (13-15).
Next up, Wagner will close out non-conference play with a home contest against Fairfield on December 28, with tip-off set for 4:00 PM at the Spiro Sports Center.
