Photo courtesy of Mount St. Mary's Athletics
Emmitsburg, MD – The Wagner men's basketball team held Mount St. Mary's to just 15 points in the second half and 27.1% (13-48) shooting from the field throughout the game, as the Seahawks picked up their sixth straight win with a 61-39 victory on Tuesday night.
With the win, Wagner improves to 7-4 in Northeast Conference play and moves into second place in the NEC standings, while the Mountaineers drop to 7-5 in league action.
Reigning NEC Co-Player of the Week
Alex Morales once again dominated in all phases of the game, scoring 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out six assists on the night for his third double-double of the season. The player Morales shared the NEC's weekly award with, Mount's Damian Chong Qui, was held to just three points on 1-6 shooting.
In a balanced offensive attack, freshman
Elijah Allen and senior
Nigel Jackson picked up 11 points apiece, while senior
Elijah Ford contributed nine points and eight rebounds.
The deciding stretch of the game came at the end of the first half. After the Mount made it a one-point game at 19-18 with 6:45 to play, an 8-2 run consisting of consecutive threes by Allen and Jackson and a bucket by senior
Will Martinez gave Wagner a 27-20 lead with 2:35 to play. One minute later, a layup by Ford and a three by freshman
DeLonnie Hunt pushed the lead to double digits at 32-22 with 1:14 to play, as Wagner took a 33-24 lead into the half.
In the second half, head coach
Bashir Mason's defense held the Mountaineers to just 5-26 (19.2%) shooting from the field, as a 7-0 run on the offensive end, capped by another Jackson three, gave the Seahawks a 40-25 lead with 16:49 to play.
The Seahawks led by as many as 24 in the second half and led wire-to-wire, pushing their winning streak to six games in the process.
Wagner out-rebounded the Mount 39-34 on the night while outscoring the Mountaineers 28-18 in the paint.
If the postseason started today, the Seahawks would enter the NEC Tournament as the #1-seed, with Merrimack ineligible for postseason play.
Both teams are scheduled to return to the court tomorrow, as the second game of the series is set for 4:00 pm on Wednesday.
