Bridgewater, NJ - Senior guards Zaire Williams and Javier Ezquerra of the Wagner College men's basketball team earned postseason Northeast Conference (NEC) awards, announced by the conference on Tuesday.
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.
Williams produced three 20-point performances this year, most recently at Chicago State in a game in which Williams also corralled a season-high nine rebounds.
Back on January 20, Zaire Williams hit a game-winning layup with less than two seconds remaining against SFU in double overtime at the Spiro Sports Center. Williams' 15-point, seven-rebound performance earned him an NEC Prime Performer honor for the week.
Williams scored double-figures in 14 straight appearances from December 21 to February 13, and eclipsed the double-digit mark in 17 out of his 25 games.
Williams became the first Seahawks to be placed on the NEC's All-Conference Third Team since guard Elijah Ford earned the honor after the 2021-22 regular season.
Voted on by the league's head coaches, the backcourt tandem is the only pair of teammates who received All-Defensive honors, as Williams and Ezquerra are joined by LIU's Brent Davis, FDU's Bismark Nsiah, and the NEC Defensive Player of the Year from CCSU, Abdul Momoh on the 2024-25 NEC All-Defensive Team. Momoh and Williams are the only two athletes in the conference to earn a spot on both an All-Conference Team as well as the All-Defensive Team.
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.
Ezquerra started in all 29 games for Wagner, being one of two Seahawks to play in all 29 games during the Green & White's 2024-25 regular season - accompanied by freshman Zavier Fitch.
Throughout the entire season, Ezquerra averaged the most minutes per game in the NEC with 34.6 and 14th most steals per game with 1.2.
Ezquerra currently has 393 assists during his four-year career as a Seahawk, placing him tenth in the category in the program's all-time history.
CCSU's Jordan Jones was named the NEC Player of the Year while teammate Abdul Momoh was crowned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. SFU's Juan Crawford Jr. was tabbed as the NEC Rookie of the Year while FDU's Terrence Brown was selected as the NEC's Most Improved Player.
Blue Devils head coach Patrick Sellers was named the conference's 2024-25 NEC Coach of the Year.
Williams and Ezquerra spearheaded Head Coach Donald Copeland's defensive that gave up the fourth fewest points per game in the nation, allowing only 60.7 points per game to opposition.
Williams, Ezquerra, and the rest of the Seahawks will travel to #3 Saint Francis U on Wednesday, March 4 in the NEC Quarterfinal Round. Tip-off is set for 7:00 pm in Loretto, PA.
For the NEC's release, click here.
