Staten Island, NY – Powered by a season-high 12 three-pointers and five players in double figures, the Wagner College men's basketball team earned its fourth straight victory on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center with a 76-72 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
With the win, Wagner moves to 5-4 in Northeast Conference play, while the Knights fall to 6-5 on the season and snap their four-game win streak.
Senior
Elijah Ford led the Seahawks with 17 points, followed by freshman
DeLonnie Hunt's 16 points. Seniors
Alex Morales and
Nigel Jackson poured in 12 on the night, while senior
Will Martinez finished with 11 points in the victory.
As a team, the Seahawks shot 12-19 from long range (63.2%) while finishing 29-53 (54.7%) from the field and holding the Knights to 8-25 (32%) from long range and 24-50 (48%) from the field.
Wagner opened up a sizeable lead in the first half, as a Morales three with 10:59 to play in the first half capped a 15-0 run that gave the Seahawks a 26-11 lead.
The Knights fought their way back into the game, cut the deficit to 37-32 at the half, and took the lead on a 13-0 run early in the second half. From there, both teams went back and forth, as the second half alone featured six ties and 10 lead changes.
With the game tied at 62-62 with 5:21 to play, Martinez delivered, scoring three of the next four Wagner field goals, the last one coming on a beautiful feed from Ford to give the Green and White a 70-65 lead with 2:35 to play.
After the Knights answered with a three to make it 70-68, Ford converted his own miss to make it a two possession game at 72-68 with 1:46 to play.
From there, Hunt showed mental toughness at the line, as the freshman converted all four of his free throws to close out the game and give Wagner the victory.
The Seahawks and Knights are scheduled to meet again on Saturday, with tip-off set for 7:00 pm.
