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Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College men's basketball team will compete in the quarterfinal round of the 2024-25 Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament on Wednesday, March 5. The sixth-seeded Seahawks will face-off against the third-seeded Saint Francis U Red Flash at DeGol Arena in Loretto, PA. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm on NECFrontRow.

Last Time Out

The Seahawks fell to the CCSU Blue Devils at the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday night. Prior to tip-off on ESPNU, five senior and graduate student-athletes  - Churchill Bounds, Zae Blake, Tyje Kelton, Zaire Williams, and Javier Ezquerra - were recognized for their accomplishments and careers as members of the Wagner Seahawks. Wagner and CCSU battled back-and-forth for a majority of the contest, as the lead changed hands nine separate times with five separate ties. After 20 minutes of play, graduate students Zae Blake and Churchill Bounds led Wagner's offense with eight and seven points respectively. Wagner dominated points in the paint, outscoring CCSU 10-2 in the category in the first. The Seahawks held a first half lead for over 13 minutes in the half, but trailed by one score at the intermission. In the second half, Wagner would hold CCSU to 6-19 (31.6%), but CCSU went 13-18 (72.2%) from the charity stripe during the frame, compared to Wagner's free throw success rate of 0-3 (0%). Five minutes into the frame, Ezquerra found senior Tyje Kelton on a fastbreak for an easy transition layup, which forced a CCSU 30-second timeout as Wagner held a 38-34 lead. Over the next 12 minutes of game action, the Blue Devils would go on a 12-2 run to possess a six-point lead with three minutes to play. Zae Blake led all Seahawks with 17 points. In the end, CCSU would prevail by a score of 55-48.

Backcourt Blitz

Senior guards Zaire Williams and Javier Ezquerra earned postseason Northeast Conference (NEC) awards, announced by the conference on Tuesday, March 4. Zaire Williams and Javier Ezquerra were both named to the first-ever NEC All-Defensive Team, meanwhile Williams was also selected as an All-Conference Third Team member. Williams led the Seahawks roster with 11.9 points and 1.76 steals per game across his 25 games and 23 starts this season, adding 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists to his senior statline. In conference play, the Brooklyn native led the team in points (12.5), rebounds (4.5) and steals (1.7) throughout 16 starts. Among the NEC, Williams finished the season third in steals per game (1.8), 14th in points per game (11.9), fifth in three-pointers made per game (1.9), and 10th in minutes played (30.4). Williams also ranks 94th nationally in steals per game. For the second consecutive season, Javier Ezquerra has finished the NEC's regular season with the league-leading assist total, dishing out 133 assists across his 29 games for an NEC-high average of 4.6 assists per game. Nationally, Ezquerra ranks 57th in assist-to-turnover ratio with a rate of 2.42 and 78th in the country in assists and assists per game. During last season's campaign, Ezquerra concluded his junior year with 144 assists across 33 games for a league-high average of 4.4 assists per game. The only Seahawks to eclipse 1000 minutes played this season, the San Juan, Puerto Rico native scored double-figures in nine appearances and passed for at least five assists in 14 during his senior season on Grymes Hill. 

Among The NEC 

Since the new year, Williams is 13th in scoring with 12.5 points, fifth in steals with 1.7 per game, eighth in three-pointers made per game with 1.9, and 15th in minutes played with 32.4 in NEC play. Graduate student Zae Blake ranks first in the NEC in three-point percentage, shooting 28-58 (48.3%) from beyond-the-arc since January 3. Blake is 15th in points per game since the start of the new year with 12 points per contest and ninth in the conference in three-pointers made per game at 1.8. Senior Javier Ezquerra ranks in third in assists per game with 4.1 assists across his first 16 conference appearances this season. Ezquerra is third in assist-to-turnover ratio with a mark of 2.2 in the category, and 57th nationally with a season-average of 2.42. Sanchez ranks fifth in the NEC in free throw percentage with a success rate of 85.7% on 36-42 shooting. 

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 fourth least points per game in the country at a tune of 60.7 points per game, trailing Mountain Valley Conference member Drake by 1.5 points in the category. Williams is 94th in the nation in steals per game with 1.76 steals per game.

It Takes A Village

Wagner is 61st in the nation in bench points per game, averaging 25 points from non-starters on any given night. Recently, Greene and Blake have provided Coach Copeland valuable production off of the bench, Greene has scored double-figures in four out of his last seven games while Blake scored a team-high 17 points against CCSU and has scored double-digits in six straight games.

Glass Cleaners

The Seahawks lead the NEC in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing 10.7 per contest. The Green & White lead the NEC in defensive rebounds allowed, giving up 30.1 defensive rebounds to opponents. At a margin of +4.6, Wagner ranks 50th nationally in rebound margin.

The Series 

Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup marks the 86th all-time matchup between these two programs. Wagner holds a 46-39 all-time lead, winning five straight against SFU. In the NEC Tournament, the Seahawks are 2-1 against the Red Flash. During the 2024-25 season, Wagner emerged victorious in both matchups with SFU. 

On January 20 at the Spiro Sports Center, Wagner defeated Saint Francis U by a score of 70-68 in double overtime thanks to a Zaire Williams game-winning layup with 1.9 seconds to go. Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds in the game. 

On January 26 at DeGol Arena, the Seahawks pulled off an improbable comeback against the Red Flash. Per Ryan Peters and Ron Ratner of the NEC, on January 26, Wagner earned the sixth-best comeback of the 2024-25 Division I collegiate basketball season according to KenPom. Based on KenPom's "Minimum Win Probability" metric, Wagner had a 0.6 percent chance of winning with a little under eight minutes remaining as the Seahawks trailed Saint Francis U, 63-44. The Green & White then went on a 22-0 run to take a three-point on a Sanchez layup. During Wagner's run, they held the Red Flash scoreless on ten straight possessions, forcing six turnovers within that span of time. Offensively, the Seahawks went 8-9 from the field 88.9% during the last eight minutes of the game to win, 68-66.

Scouting The Red Flash

Saint Francis U comes into its quarterfinal matchup with a 13-17 overall record and an 8-8 mark in NEC action. The Red Flash have won three straight games against Le Moyne (81-76), FDU (85-80), and Chicago State (80-71 OT). Junior guard Riley Parker was named on the NEC's All-Conference First Team while junior Forward Valentino Pinedo earned third team honors. Freshman guard Juan Crawford Jr. was named the NEC's Rookie of the Year while he and freshman guard Jeremy Clayville were tabbed to the conference's All-Rookie Team.

Next Up

The semifinal round of the NEC's postseason tournament is scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at 2:00 pm. Pending a Seahawks victory, Wagner will play the winner of second-seeded LIU and seventh-seeded Chicago State on ESPN+, YES Network, NESN+, and SportsNet Pittsburgh.