Staten Island, NY – In front of a sellout crowd at the Spiro Sports Center, the Wagner College men's basketball team advanced to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship game with a convincing 82-62 win over LIU on Saturday night.
The Seahawks will take on #1 seed Bryant on Tuesday, with tip-off set for 7:00 pm on ESPN2. This marks the sixth time ever and third time under
Bashir Mason that the Seahawks have qualified for the NEC title game.
Reigning NEC Player of the Year
Alex Morales once again led the Seahawks with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. With his second rebound in the first half, Morales became the 13th player in NEC history to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists in his career.
Sophomore
DeLonnie Hunt contributed 17 points and four steals, while freshman
Zaire Williams was the third Seahawk in double figures with 10 points.
Wagner got out to a fast start as five straight points by junior
Ja'Mier Fletcher capped off an 11-0 run to give the Seahawks an early 15-6 lead with 13:23 to play in the first half.
The Seahawks further extended their lead late in the first half to take a 47-31 halftime lead.
Wagner's biggest lead of the contest came eight minutes into the second half, as a three by graduate student
Nigel Jackson gave Wagner 63-41 advantage.
The Sharks fought back, cutting the Wagner lead to just 12 with under eight minutes to play, until a deep three by Hunt with the shot clock winding down made it 70-55 with 6:32 to play, practically sealing the game for the Seahawks.
As a team, Wagner converted on 29-59 (49.2%) of shots from the field, including 8-22 (36.4%) accuracy from long range. Defensively, Wagner held LIU to 22-53 (41.5%) shooting throughout the contest.
The Seahawks held the Sharks to just two bench points, while receiving 25 points from their reserves.
