NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — The No. 7 Wagner College men's basketball team used a dominant second-half performance to upset No. 2 Central Connecticut State, 70–60, on Wednesday night inside Detrick Gymnasium in the quarterfinal round of the NEC Tournament.
With the victory, the Seahawks advance to the NEC semifinals and will travel to face No. 1 LIU on Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. inside the Steinberg Wellness Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, YES, and NESN Nation.
Central Connecticut State (18–12, 12–6 NEC) opened the game on an 11–4 run before Wagner (14–16, 8–10 NEC) responded with a surge midway through the first half. The Seahawks trimmed the deficit to one, 18–17, before junior
Nick Jones — the NEC's steals leader — came up with a steal and converted a fastbreak layup to give Wagner a 19–18 advantage.
Jones later knocked down a three-pointer with 5:51 remaining in the half to push the Seahawks ahead by three. CCSU answered with a late push, building a six-point lead, but Jones converted a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to cut the deficit to four, 35–31, heading into the locker room.
Wagner quickly erased the deficit after halftime. Junior
John Awoke opened the second half with a three-pointer before sophomore
Binael Basil scored back-to-back layups to give the Green & White a 38–37 lead with 14:41 remaining.
Awoke continued to spark the Seahawks' offense, connecting on another triple to extend Wagner's lead to four, 50–46. Minutes later, he buried another three-pointer to push the margin to seven, 57–50, with five minutes left in the game.
Down the stretch, Wagner's defense held CCSU in check, limiting the Blue Devils to 0-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half. The Seahawks closed the game at the free-throw line, stretching the lead to as many as 13 before securing the 70–60 victory.
"You just have to believe," coach
Dwan McMillan said. "What we've shown the last half of the season, the connectivity has been there at a high frequency in the last month."
Awoke led Wagner with 18 points, knocking down four three-pointers and converting all four of his free throw attempts. Jones followed with 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists, while Basil added 16 points and eight rebounds in the win.
The Seahawks shot 44.8 percent from the field and connected on 11-of-12 attempts from the free throw line. Wagner held CCSU to just 25 second-half points and 35.0 percent shooting after the break.
The win marks just the eighth time in NEC Tournament history that a No. 7 seed has defeated a No. 2 seed, and Wagner's first win as the No. 7 seed.
Next up, the Seahawks will face top-seeded LIU on Saturday, March 7. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. inside the Steinberg Wellness Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
