Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team improved its record to 10-8 on the 2024-25 season with a 70-68 double overtime victory over Saint Francis U at the Spiro Sports Center on Monday evening.

With the win, the Seahawks climb to 2-3 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play while the Red Flash drop to 7-13 on the year and 2-4 in conference action.

The Seahawks led for the entirety of the first, with their biggest gap being eight during the closing minutes of the half.

Wagner also outscored Saint Francis U in points off of turnovers, 8-2, and second chance points, 5-0, during the opening frame.

Senior guard Zaire Williams led the charge with eight points as graduate student Ja'Kair Sanchez followed closely with seven of his own. 

The Seahawks also grabbed five more rebounds than the Red Flash in the first half while shooting 25% better from beyond-the-arc.

After 20 minutes of play, the Green & White held a 32-25 lead.

After seven minutes of action in the second half, Wagner held a 13-point cushion after a Sanchez pull-up jumper fell with 13:30 remaining in the game.

The Red Flash would chip away at Wagner's double-digit lead to eventually tie the game on three made free throws by junior guard Riley Parker with 18 ticks remaining in regulation.

A three-point attempt from senior Javier Ezquerra hit the back-rim as the clock hit triple zeroes.

After 40 minutes of play, the score was knotted up at 55 each.

Sanchez scored 15 of his team-high 24 points in the second half.

In the first overtime, back-to-back Ezquerra three-point field goals put Wagner ahead early in the period.

However, timely shooting from SFU's Parker and junior guard Chris Moncrief forced a second overtime.

In the second overtime, Williams scored five of Wagner's last six points, including a three-pointer to give Wagner a three-point lead with 1:15 left followed by the game-winning layup with 1.9 seconds remaining. 

A last second full-court pass was intercepted by senior Di'Andre Howell-South to secure Wagner's first conference win at the Spiro Sports Center this year.

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Individually, Sanchez led the Seahawks with 24 points, the most scored by the Syracuse native while in a Wagner uniform. Williams followed with 16 points, scoring double-digits for the seventh straight game.

Junior Keyontae Lewis secured his first double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.

Senior Tyje Kelton and Ezquerra added seven points each.

As a team, the Seahawks led for 41:32 compared to the Red Flash's 1:59. Saint Francis U did not lead in the game until midway through the first overtime period.

Wagner shot 18-25 (72%) from the free throw line while Saint Francis U put up a 15-17 (88.2%) success rate from the charity stripe. The Seahawks shot 60% from three in the overtime periods, compared to that of the Red Flash who shot 16.7% from beyond-the-arc in both overtime periods. 

Next up, Wagner will travel to Erie, PA for a matchup with NEC newcomer Mercyhurst on Friday, January 24. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm.