Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team will travel to Northeast Conference (NEC) opponent Le Moyne for a 7:00 pm tip at Ted Grant Court on Thursday, February 13.

Last Time Out

Wagner dropped its matchup to the FDU Knights on Saturday afternoon by a score of 69-58 at the Bogota Savings Bank Center. In the first half, the Knights and Seahawks tied the game six separate times, with the lead changing hands just twice throughout the period. For a majority of the half, the Seahawks led, garnering a 10-point lead after a senior Zaire Williams layup with 8:24 remaining in the first half. The Green & White outscored the Knights in points in the paint (14-8), second chance points (7-4), and bench points (9-3). The Knights would end the first half on an 18-8 run to tie the game, 28-28 after 20 minutes of action. FDU jumped out to a 13-point lead midway through the second half. The Seahawks would continue to fight, chipping away at the Knights lead to make it a six-point game after Blake scored a layup with 2:24 left in the game. In the end, the Knights would prevail over the Seahawks by a score of 69-58 thanks to a 41-point second period. 

Among The NEC 

Since the new year, Williams is tenth in scoring with 14.8 points, second in steals with 2.1 per game, fourth in three-pointers made per game with 2.1, and sixth in minutes played with 34.6. Graduate student Zae Blake ranks first in the NEC in three-point percentage, shooting 18-35 (51.4%) from beyond-the-arc since January 3. Blake is tenth in points per game since the start of the new year with 10.8 and twelfth in the conference in three-pointers made per game at 1.6. Senior Javier Ezquerra ranks in third in assists per game with 4.5 assists across his eleven conference appearances this season. Ezquerra is first in assist-to-turnover ratio with a mark of 2.3 in the category, and 34th nationally with a season-average of 2.64. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native also is tied-for-fifteenth in three-pointers made per game since the start of the new year with 1.4 successful attempts per game. Junior Keyontae Lewis is sixth in the NEC in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing 2.2 per outing, and ninth overall with six total rebounds per game. Since January 3, the Seahawks are second in the conference in three-point percentage with a success rate of 35.8% on a 77-215 clip, as well as second in free throw percentage at 140-187 from the field for a success rate of 74.9%.

Wagner DNA

Since December 4, Wagner has ranked in the top 10 in scoring defensive out of 355 Division I teams. At their peak, the Seahawks were ranked third in the category. Currently, the Green & White allow the seventh least points per game in the country at a tune of 61 points per game, trailing WCC member Saint Mary's (CA) by 0.3 points per game. The Seahawks rank 86th nationally and second in the NEC in turnovers forced per game at 13.4 and 111th in turnover margin with +1.3. Wagner is 102nd in steals per game and second in the conference with 7.6 swipes per contest. The Green & White sit atop the NEC in three-point percentage, shooting 35.4% from beyond-the-arc as a team, Wagner ranks 100th in the country in the category. Williams is 56th in the nation in steals per game with 1.95 steals per game.

It Takes A Village

Wagner is 69th in the nation in bench points per game, averaging 25.2 points from non-starters on any given night.

Crashing The Glass

The Seahawks lead the NEC in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing 10.9 per contest. At a margin of +5.0, Wagner ranks 48th nationally in rebounding margin.

The Series

Wagner holds a 2-1 advantage over Le Moyne all-time. Last season was the first home-and-home meeting between these two programs. The Seahawks won the first meeting on Staten Island, 80-57, before dropping their matchup 28 days later in Syracuse by a score of 56-70. Earlier this year, the Seahawks took down the Dolphins by a score of 73-61 on Grymes Hill on February 1 thanks to a 45-29 advantage in the second half. Five Seahawks scored in double-digits - senior Zaire Williams (16), graduate student Ja'Kair Sanchez (14), graduate student Zae Blake (14), junior R.J. Greene (12), and senior Javier Ezquerra (10) in a game where Wagner shot 21-37 from the field (56.8%), including 10-17 (58.8%) from beyond-the-arc. In the second half alone, Wagner shot 13-16 from the floor (81.3%) compared to a 7-21 success rate (33.3%) for the Dolphins.

Scouting The Dolphins

Le Moyne comes into Thursday's game with a 7-18 overall record with a mark of 2-8 in conference play. Le Moyne is currently on a five game slide, dropping six out of its last seven games. Most recently, the Dolphins fell to the Mercyhurst Lakers, 82-78, last Saturday. Sophomore guard AJ Dancler scored a season-high 32 points against Mercyhurst. Dancler has scored double-digits in 12 out of his last 13 appearances, including nine straight double-digit showings and 26 points per game throughout his last three performances. Since January 3, Le Moyne has scored a conference-best 73.3 points per game while allowing a conference-worst 80.4 points per game. 

Next Up

After their matchup with the Dolphins, the Seahawks will host their penultimate home game of the 2024-25 season against Stonehill on Thursday, February 20. Tip-off is set fof 7:00 pm at the Spiro Sports Center.