BALTIMORE, Md. — The Wagner College men's basketball team came up just short in an overtime battle on Sunday afternoon, falling 71–70 to UMBC at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
UMBC (3–1, 0–0 America East) opened the game with strong interior play, taking a 15–6 lead with 14:01 left in the first half. Junior
Nick Jones then fueled a 17–7 Seahawk run to give Wagner (0–4, 0–0 NEC) a 23–22 advantage with 4:08 remaining. Freshman
Elijah Brown capped the half with a right-wing three-pointer to send the Seahawks into the locker room with a 32–28 lead.
Wagner carried that momentum into the second half, as redshirt-senior
Jaden Baker converted an and-one layup to extend the advantage to 47–37 with 13:13 left in regulation. UMBC stormed back to tie the game at 53 with 5:43 remaining. The teams traded the lead five times in the final four minutes of regulation before Jones calmly knocked down two free throws with 14 seconds left to make it 60–60 and send the contest into overtime.
The extra period featured more back-and-forth action. After UMBC took a 63–60 lead, the Seahawks answered with a series of drives to the rim, including two layups from sophomore
Binael Basil to push Wagner back in front, 68–66, with 1:22 to go. The Seahawks regained the lead again at 70–68 on another Basil finish with 33 seconds left, but UMBC connected on a contested three-pointer at the buzzer to escape with the 71–70 win.
Jones led Wagner with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, adding five rebounds and three steals. Basil delivered a major lift off the bench with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and seven rebounds, while junior Bryan Akanamu added eight points and five boards.
Wagner shot 44 percent from the field and outscored UMBC 40–26 in the paint while collecting 37 rebounds. The Seahawks held the Retrievers to 22 percent from three, but UMBC converted 22-of-32 free throws and capitalized for 21 points off Wagner's 15 turnovers.
The Seahawks continue their road swing on Saturday, November 22, with a 12:00 p.m. matchup at Georgetown inside Capital One Arena.
