Photo by Larry Levanti
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with a wire-to-wire 77-59 victory over Hartford in front of 1,924 fans at the Spiro Sports Center on Tuesday night.
The Seahawks led by as many as 27 points midway through the second half and delivered multiple highlight-reel plays to get the energized crowd out of its seats.
Graduate student
Will Martinez led all players with 18 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while reigning Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Year
Alex Morales contributed 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists. In his Seahawk debut, redshirt senior forward
Raekwon Rogers was the third Seahawk in double figures with 10 points.
Wagner jumped out to an early 8-0 lead on a three-pointer by freshman
Zaire Williams less than two minutes into the contest and never looked back, extending the lead to double figures at 36-26 with 4:04 to play in the first half on a layup by Martinez.
Leading 45-28 at the half, the Seahawks kept their offensive momentum going in the second period, as 10 Wagner players scored points on the night.
A breakaway dunk from Morales on a feed by freshman
Javier Ezquerra and an alley-oop from Martinez to graduate student
Elijah Ford put the exclamation point on a successful opener for Wagner.
As a team, the Seahawks shot 32-58 (55.2%) from the floor while head coach
Bashir Mason's signature defense held last year's America East champions to 36.2% (17-47) on the night. The Green and White also held a 36-30 advantage on the glass while combining for 17 assists throughout the contest.
Next up, Wagner will travel to Atlantic 10 member VCU on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 pm.
