WATCH | Live Stats | Game Notes
Syracuse, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team will open the final week of the regular season with a road matchup at Le Moyne on Thursday night at 7:00 pm.
Setting The Scene
While the Seahawks have clinched a spot in the Northeast Conference (NEC) tournament, the playoff picture still remains wide open going into the final week of the regular season. Wagner can finish as high as the #3 seed and as low as the #6 seed.
Wagner can guarantee itself a home game at the Spiro Sports Center in the NEC quarterfinals with a sweep of Le Moyne and FDU this week. The Seahawks take the #3 seed with a sweep if SHU is swept. Wagner also earns a home game with a split if its win is over FDU, the Knights lose to Merrimack and Le Moyne loses to SFU.
There's a fascinating scenario where a four-way deadlock for third place could unfold among FDU, SHU, Le Moyne, and Wagner, all with 8-8 records. That particular logjam would shake out with the following tournament seeding: #3 SHU, #4 WC, #5 Le Moyne and #6 FDU.
Last Time Out
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. 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.
Council Continues To Impress
Junior
Melvin Council Jr. was once again named a Northeast Conference (NEC) Prime Performer. Council led Wagner with 25 points against LIU in Sunday's nationally televised win, which marked a season-best in both NEC play and against DI competition. The first-year Seahawk, who stayed on the court for the full 40 minutes in both games last week, ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (15.0), eighth in rebounding (5.5), sixth in assists (3.7), fifth in FT% (.773) and ninth in steals (1.5).
The Wagner DNA
At 63.0 points per game, Wagner is 9th in the country in scoring defense while also leading the Northeast Conference (NEC). Wagner held LIU to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor on Sunday, a season-best defensive mark for the Seahawks in league play.
Downtown Staten Island
Defensively, the Seahawks hold teams to 30% shooting from long range, good for 21
st in the country. Wagner limited LIU to just one made three-pointer (in 10 attempts), the lowest total in an NEC game this season.
Offensively, Wagner is 5-2 when connecting on nine or more threes per game.
Ezquerra Closing In On Milestone
Junior
Javier Ezquerra is closing in on 250 career assists. The NEC's active leader has 118 assists on the year and 234 for his career.
The Key
Sophomore forward
Keyontae Lewis scored a season-high 15 points against CCSU on Thursday, then added 10 points, six boards and three blocks in Sunday's 72-57 win against LIU. Lewis averaged 12.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 2.0 bpg for the week. He has reached double-digits in each of his last four contests. He has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 12-of-14 NEC games this season and ranks first in the league in field goal accuracy in conference play at 61.6 percent.
Taking Care Of The Ball
Wagner's 10 turnovers per game are 36th in the country and first in the NEC. As a team Wagner's assist/turnover ratio of 1.34 leads the NEC. Individually, the Seahawks have two of the top three players in the NEC in assist/turnover ratio in junior
Javier Ezquerra (2nd / 2.21) and Council (3rd / 2.15).
The Season Series
In the first meeting between the two teams, Wagner earned a 80-57 victory over Le Moyne at the Spiro Sports Center. Sophomore
Julian Brown and junior
Melvin Council Jr. led the Seahawks with 23 and 21 points, respectively.
It marked the first time since 2022 that two Seahawks scored 20-plus points, as Alex Morales (25) and Will Martinez (21) achieved the feat on February 24 against FDU.
Prior to this year's two meetings in NEC action, the Seahawks and Dolphins met once before, with Wagner earning a 91-81 victory during the 1968-69 season.
Scouting The Dolphins
The Dolphins enter Thursday's matchup with a 7-7 record in NEC action, but have lost two consecutive games against LIU and FDU. Le Moyne is 8-3 at home this season and will face Saint Francis U in the regular season finale on Saturday.
Next Up
Wagner will host FDU on Saturday at 4:30 pm for the final home game of the regular season.
