Pictured Above: Redshirt senior Romone Saunders
Box Score
Emmitsburg, MD - The Wagner men's basketball team earned a gritty and determined 58-56 come-from-behind victory at Mount St. Mary's on Saturday as redshirt senior guard
Romone Saunders dribbled the length of the court before hitting a buzzer-beating runner in the lane, setting off a wild Seahawk celebration.
In earning their third straight win, on a day when they overcame a 27.9 percent (17-of-61) shooting game, the Green & White improve their season record to 13-12 and remain in the thick of Northeast Conference (NEC) race, at 8-6, while the Mount falls to 7-20, 4-10 in league.
At 8-6, the Seahawks vault into a five-way tie for second place in the tightly-bunched conference standings, two games behind red-hot Saint Francis U.
The victory also gives the Seahawks a split of the regular season series with the Mountaineers, who earned a 70-56 win at the Spiro Sports Center back on January 19.
How impressive and improbable was this road win? Consider that Wagner survived with its two leading scorers going a combined 4-of-27 from the field, as Saunders (17.2 ppg.) was 2-of-14 shooting, while senior guard
Elijah Davis (11.0 ppg.) was 2-of-13. From three-point range, they were a combined 1-of-9.
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, the never-say-die Seahawks took their first lead since the 16:31 mark of the first half when redshirt senior forward
AJ Sumbry is a jumper in the lane with 5:19 left to play in putting Wagner on top, 49-47.
After the Mount's Malik Jefferson put the home team ahead, 51-49, on a baseline jumper with 2:51 left. With 1:28 remaining, Saunders went one-of-two from the line to draw the Seahawks within one at 51-50.
That's the way the score remained until Saunders, the NEC's fourth-ranked free throw shooter entering the game at 84.8 percent, knocked down a pair with 43 seconds left to put Wagner ahead 52-51.
On the Mount's ensuing possession, Vado Morse misfired on a three-pointer and senior guard
Devin Liggeons was there to pull down the rebound and get the ball quickly into the hands of sophomore point guard
Chase Freeman, who was intentionally fouled with 20 seconds left.
Freeman, an 82 percent free throw shooter on the season, calmly knocked down a pair to make it a 54-51 lead.
The Mountaineers then had the ball with one last chance to tie it, and that's exactly what they did as Valdo Morse canned a three-pointer with six seconds left.
After the Mount called timeout with 5.1 seconds to go, Wagner, needing to go the length of the court, had Liggeons inbound the ball to Saunders, who dribbled it coast-to-coast before nailing the floater at the buzzer to win it.
Mount St. Mary's was in control of the game, leading 39-30 with 12:45 left, when a key sequence swung the momentum Wagner's way. It was at this point when the Mount's Dee Barnes fouled Saunders on an attempted layup.
Not only was this Barnes' third foul, seconds later he was whistled for his fourth when hit with a technical foul. This allowed the Seahawks to take four consecutive free throws.
And Wagner made the most of the opportunity, as Saunders knocked down his two, before senior guard
Elijah Davis stepped in to shoot the two-shot technical, and the Bronx, NY native then promptly knocked down both.
The four straight free throws made it a 39-34 game and the rest of the game was a dogfight.
With the Seahawks down 42-37, freshman guard
Tyrone Nesby IV nailed a three-pointer from the right wing to make it a 42-40 game with 9:48 left. After the Mount's Jalen Gibbs hit a layup at the 9:20 mark, Wagner answered with a Davis layup (8:46), followed by a Sumbry hook shot in the lane (8:03), the latter tying it at 44-44.
Morse then knocked down a jumper to put the Mount ahead, 46-44 with 7:39 remaining. On the Seahawks' ensuing possession, Liggeons tipped in his own missed layup at the 7:05 mark to again tie it, this time at 46-46.
With 6:43 left, Morse split a pair from the line to make it 47-46, before Liggeons went one-of-two himself from the charity stripe at the 6:14 mark, which left the game tied at 47-47, setting the stage for the incredible finish.
In the first half of this game, Seahawks scored the first four points and the last four points. In-between, the Mountaineers largely held the upper hand, taking a 32-22 lead at the break. After the game-opening 4-0 spurt by Wagner, the Mount went on a 17-2 run in opening a 17-6 lead with as the Seahawks were just 2-of-10 from the field during this span. In the opening half, Wagner was a cold 21.2 percent (7-of-33) from the floor, including 18.8 percent from three-point range (3-of-16). Mount shot 40.7 percent (11-of-27) in the first half, and 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from three-point range.
For the game, Saunders led Wagner in scoring with 12 points, thanks largely to a 7-of-9 effort from the free throw line, while sophomore forward
Nigel Jackson and Liggeons hit for 10 points apiece. Davis finished with eight points, in addition to a team, season, and career-tying 10 rebounds. The 6-8 Sumbry took care of his share the dirty work in the lane, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Morse was the lone Mountaineer in double figures, hitting for a game-high 23 points.
The Seahawks held a 45-38 overall rebounding advantage, including a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass.
Wagner is next in action on Thursday, February 21 when the Seahawks travel to Bryant to meet the Bulldogs in a 7pm tip in a game that will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network (CBSN).
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