Pictured Above: Senior
Elijah Davis (photo by Paul Falcone)
Box Score
Staten Island, NY – Senior guard
Elijah Davis scored a career-high 27 points to lead three players in double figures but it wasn't enough to overcome a late Saint Francis U rally as the Northeast Conference-leading Red Flash pulled away late for an 83-72 win on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center in a game that was televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
With the win, SFU improves to 16-12 on the season and 11-5 in the NEC, which keeps the Red Flash alone in first place in the league, one game ahead of Fairleigh Dickson and also gives them at least a share of the regular season crown. In dropping their straight, the Seahawks fall to 13-15 overall, 8-8 in league and now out of the running for a top-four seed and accompanying home game in next week's NEC Tournament.
After falling behind by a 43-39 count at halftime, Wagner fought back to take a pair of second-half leads, the last coming at the 11:33 mark when a Davis three-pointer put the Seahawks on top 57-54.
The Red Flash answered with two consecutive treys by Andre Wolford, the first with 10:35 left that tied it at 57-57, and the second at the 9:54 mark which gave SFU a 60-57 lead. Not to be outdone, redshirt senior guard
Romone Saunders countered with a three-ball of his own to forge a 60-60 tie with 9:33 remaining.
A pair of Keith Braxton free throws at the 8:51 mark gave Saint Francis U the lead for good at 62-60. It was still anybody's game, with Wagner down by just three at 66-63 with 6:40 left following a Davis free throw, before the Red Flash answered with a quick-strike 12-0 run over the next three minutes. The run, which was highlighted by consecutive three's from Jamaal King and Randall Gaskins, allowed SFU to surge to a commanding 78-63 with 3:42 left and the Red Flash were able to hang from there.
The 27 points matches the highest-scoring game by a Seahawk this season as Saunders went for 27 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn back on January 5. The other two Wagner double-digit scorers on the night were Saunders and sophomore forward
Nigel Jackson, who finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
For Jackson, who was coming off a career-high 22-point outburst at FDU on Saturday, this marks his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game as he is averaging 13.5 points per game over this stretch.
Hitting for seven points apiece for Wagner on this night were freshman guard
Jonathan Norfleet and junior guard
Jeff Coulanges, who made his seventh start of the season. Also finding the scoring column on this night for the Seahawks were sophomore guard
Chase Freeman and redshirt senior forward
AJ Sumbry who finished with five and two points, respectively.
For SFU, Keith Braxton led all scorers with 20 points while Isaiah Blackmon added 19. Wolford and King finishing with 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Red Flash who outshot Wagner 45 percent to 38 percent, in addition to out-rebounding the Seahawks 43-35.
The Seahawks will close out the regular season on Saturday, March 2 when they host Robert Morris on Senior Day. Tip-off between Wagner and RMU is set for 4:00 p.m. and following the women's matchup between the Seahawks and Colonials which tips off at 1:00 p.m.
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