Brooklyn Heights, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team earned its third straight victory, a gritty 75-71 overtime win over St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon, to remain in the race for the final spot in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament.
The Seahawks now stand at 5-11 in NEC play, trailing Bryant (6-10) and the Terriers (6-10) by one game and Mount St. Mary's (7-9) and Fairleigh Dickinson (7-9) by two games, with two games remaining. The Seahawks and Bulldogs face off in the regular season finale on February 29, with Bryant holding the tiebreaker between the two teams. Wagner currently owns the tiebreaker over Mount St. Mary's after sweeping the season series against the Mountaineers.
Junior
Elijah Ford led Wagner with 22 points and eight rebounds on the afternoon, while junior
Alex Morales poured in 21 points, including a team-high five points in overtime. Morales also led the Seahawks with a game-high 14 rebounds.
Tied at 58-58 after regulation, the Seahawks outscored the Terriers 17-13 in the overtime period to take the victory.
Consecutive threes by Morales and sophomore
Tyrone Nesby IV gave Wagner a 64-60 advantage two minutes into the extra period, while layups by Ford and junior
Chase Freeman countered the Terriers' offense and kept the two-possession lead intact.
Leading 74-71 with 14 seconds to play after two free throws by Ford and down to just five players, freshman
DeAndre Wilkins came up with a huge rejection on the defensive end of the floor to seal the victory.
The Seahawks held a 37-31 advantage in the first half and led by as much as 13 points following a jumper by ford with eight minutes to play that made it 58-45, but the Terriers fought back to tie the game at 58-58 with 1:30 to play.
Neither team scored during the remainder of regulation, as Ford, junior
Will Martinez, and Morales all had chances to score in the final 15 seconds of regulation.
Throughout the contest Wagner held a narrow 40-39 advantage on the glass while outscoring St. Francis Brooklyn 38-28 in the paint and holding the lead for more than 29 minutes. Despite going to overtime, tonight's contest only featured one lead change and one tie.
The Seahawks finish the regular season with a road contest at LIU on Thursday night at 7:00 pm, before taking on Bryant in the regular season finale on Saturday at the Spiro Sports Center.
