Staten Island, NY – Junior
Melvin Council Jr.'s 25 points led the Wagner College men's basketball team to a 72-57 win over LIU in a nationally televised game on CBSSN.
Council shot an efficient 10-16 from the field while adding six assists and three steals throughout the game. Junior
Tyje Kelton contributed 14 points on 4-6 accuracy from downtown off the bench while fellow junior
Tahron Allen added 13 points. Sophomore
Keyontae Lewis was the fourth Seahawk in double figures with 10 points.
Wagner held the lead for 35:47 minutes throughout the contest and limited the Sharks to 33.3% (18-54) shooting from the field, including 8-29 (27.6%) in the first half.
Offensively, the Seahawks shot 25-55 (45.5%) from the field and converted on 4-8 shots from long range in the first half.
After the Sharks opened the contest with four straight points, the Seahawks quickly answered and took their first double digit lead of the contest on a Council layup that gave Wagner a 23-13 lead with 6:12 to play in the first half.
Leading 32-22 at the midway mark, the Seahawks answered every LIU push and led by as many as 17 points, as a fastbreak dunk by Allen gave the Green and White a 59-42 lead, to earn the victory.
With the win, Wagner improves to 7-7 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play, while LIU drops to 6-9 in league action.
Next up, the Seahawks will travel to Le Moyne on Thursday, February 29, with tip-off set for 7:00 pm.
