Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball fell to 0-1 in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with its loss to Chicago State in the conference opener on Friday night at the Spiro Sports Center.

With the loss, Wagner falters to 8-6 on its 2024-25 campaign. Chicago State earns its first win of the season to improve to 1-15.

The Seahawks led 12-2 after five minutes of action. Junior Keyontae Lewis scored all seven of his points during the span.

The Cougars would slowly pick at the Seahawks first half lead, bringing their deficit down to just one at the break. 

Lewis and senior Zaire Williams led the Green & White with seven points in the first half while Chicago State's offense was catalyzed by forward Dailliss Jones and guard Matthew Robinson who both added eight points prior to the conclusion of the first.

At half, Chicago State outscored Wagner, 14-6, in points off turnovers. 

In the second half, the Cougars put up an efficient 56% from field goal range to lead by as many as 13 with six minutes remaining.

Wagner led 32-31 early in the second half, but Chicago State 24-10 from the 16:40 mark to the 6:00 mark helped grant the Cougars their first NEC victory in program history.

Forward Noble Crawford led all Chicago State scorers with 11 points in the second to finish with 15 on the day. Four different Cougars scored in double figures without one scoring above 15 in a balanced scoring attack.

For the Seahawks, graduate student Zae Blake was a spark off the bench offensively, scoring 12 in the half. For Blake, this is the third consecutive game in which the D.C. native has scored at least 11 points.

Williams followed behind with nine points to finish with 16, leading the Seahawks for the second consecutive game in the category.

After a 38 point second half, Chicago State would prevail over the Seahawks, 64-52.

As a team, Chicago State outscored Wagner on points off turnovers, 22-6. However, the Seahawks' bench outscored that of the Cougar's, 21-4.

The Cougars shot 50%, 22-44, from the field throughout the game, the third-best mark against the Seahawks this season.

Next up, Wagner will be back upon Grymes Hill to welcome FDU to the Spiro Sports Center on Sunday, January 5. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm.