Brooklyn, NY – Trailing 60-34 with 13 minutes to play, the Wagner College men's basketball team rallied and took a 67-66 lead with two minutes to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Seahawks fell 69-67 at LIU in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams on Thursday night.
Junior
Tahron Allen led four Seahawks in double figures with 16 points, while fellow junior
Melvin Council Jr. added 15 points. Junior
Javier Ezquerra contributed 13 points, while sophomore
Julian Brown added 10 points off the bench.
Wagner trailed 45-28 at the half and was limited to just six players for a majority of the second half, but found its offensive groove midway through the second half. A 25-4 run by the Green and White, culminating in consecutive Brown threes and a basket by Council, got the Seahawks within one possession at 64-61 with 5:48 to play.
Coming out of a timeout, back-to-back baskets by Council and a layup by Ezquerra then gave the Seahawks the lead with just over two minutes to play, but it wasn't enough, as the Sharks reclaimed the lead and hung on for the victory.
Wagner limited the Sharks to just 8-26 (30.8%) from the field in the second half, but could not overcome LIU's 55.9% (19-34) effort in the first half.
Next up, the Seahawks will host Saint Francis U on Saturday, with tip-off set for 1:00 pm at the Spiro Sports Center.
