North Andover, MA – Five Seahawks scored in double figures as the Wagner College men's basketball team earned its ninth straight victory and moved to 8-0 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with a 71-57 road victory at Merrimack on Sunday afternoon.
Graduate student
Elijah Ford led all scorers with 20 points on 9-11 shooting, while freshman
Zaire Williams contributed a career-high 16 points, including four three pointers.
Following a career-high 35 points at LIU on Friday, graduate student
Alex Morales added 12 points and six rebounds, while classmate
Will Martinez added 11 points and four assists. Redshirt-senior
Raekwon Rogers was the fifth Seahawk in double figures with 10 points on the afternoon.
Wagner jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the contest, including another highlight-reel dunk by Ford to open the scoring, but the Warriors quickly fought back to even the game.
In the final minute of the first half, a timely steal my Martinez led to a Ford layup, before a bucket by Morales at the halftime buzzer gave Wagner a 30-28 advantage at the midway mark.
Coming out of locker room, consecutive threes by Williams and a traditional three-point play by Morales gave the Seahawks a 39-31 lead three minutes into the period.
A jumper by Ford gave Wagner a double-digit lead at 46-36 with 14:27 to play. The Warriors fought back and cut the deficit to five points with 9:43 to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks pulled away late for the victory.
The Seahawks converted on 25-48 (51.1%) of field goals against the Warriors' zone defense on the afternoon, while holding Merrimack to 23-50 (46%) on the day.
Wagner once again had an advantage in the paint, outscoring Merrimack 38-26 from close range, while combining for 10 steals.
Next up, the Seahawks will return to the Spiro Sports Center on Thursday, January 27, to take on Saint Francis U at 7:00 pm.
