EASTON, Mass. — The Wagner men's basketball turned in a strong second-half performance to earn a 68–57 road victory over Stonehill on Saturday afternoon inside Merkert Gymnasium.
Stonehill jumped out to a quick 5–0 lead to open the contest, but Wagner responded midway through the first half when graduate student
Travis Gray connected from deep to give the Seahawks a 15–12 advantage. The teams traded baskets down the stretch of the opening period before redshirt senior
Jaden Baker knocked down a jumper late to send Wagner into halftime with a slim 26–24 lead.
The Seahawks began to seize control early in the second half. After extending the margin to four, 32–28, sophomore
Binael Basil corralled an offensive rebound and converted the putback, igniting a Wagner run. Junior
Michael Cooper punctuated the surge with a pair of dunks as the Seahawks stretched their advantage to a game-high 20 with 4:35 remaining.
Stonehill continued to battle, forcing turnovers and knocking down multiple three-pointers to trim the deficit to seven, 62–55, with 1:36 left. Wagner answered down the stretch, as junior
Nick Jones crossed his defender on the wing and buried a floater with under a minute to play to push the Green & White back up nine. Baker followed with a pair of late free throws, and Jones capped the afternoon with an alley-oop feed to Basil to seal the 68–57 win.
Basil led the way with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, the highest single-game rebounding total by any player in NEC play this season. Jones finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while Baker added nine points.
Wagner dominated inside, outscoring Stonehill 32–18 in the paint, while also totaling 22 bench points and converting 19 points off turnovers. The Seahawks shot 48.3 percent from the field in the second half and went 14-of-18 from the free-throw line for the game.
The Seahawks split the season series with the Skyhawks and return to action on Monday, Feb. 16 at LIU. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Brooklyn. The matchup was originally scheduled for Jan. 25 before being postponed due to inclement weather.
