Wagner edged the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team, 78-69, on Monday evening at Stratis Arena in Hackensack, NJ. The Knights fall to 2-11 on the season, with a 2-2 mark in Northeast Conference action, while the Seahawks improve to 9-4 overall, including a 2-1 record in league play.
Junior guard Cameron Tyler (Jamaica, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)) (Jamaica, NY) led the Knights with 20 points, while junior forward Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) (Englewood, NJ) added 18 and junior guard Sean Baptiste (North Brunswick, NJ/St. Josephs of Metuchen) (North Brunswick, NJ) chipped in 10. Junior guard Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ) led FDU on the boards with seven rebounds, while grabbing four steals. Mofunanya added four blocks.
Six minutes into the game, the Knights staged a 10-3 run, beginning when Baptiste found junior guard Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's) (Dover, NJ) in the corner for a three to knot the game at 7-7. The Knights took the lead as Mofunanya muscled his way into the paint for a bucket and then hit a pair from the line.
Joey Mundweiler hit back-to-back treys to give the lead back to Wagner, but Baptiste sank one of his own from three-point range and Moore found sophomore forward Kamil Svrdlik (Prerov, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Zlin) (Prerov, Czech Republic) under the basket for a 16-12 Knights' advantage.
Mundweiler's third three-pointer tied the game up for the third time in the first half, 18-18, with 10:13 remaining in the first half.
A layup from Grier capped a 7-2 run by the Knights and gave FDU a 27-22 edge with 6:49 left until the break, but Wagner scored nine unanswered points to take 31-27 lead.
Sophomore forward John Galvin (Weston, CT/Weston) (Weston, CT) converted an old-fashioned three-point play to bring the Knights within one, 31-30, with 4:16 left in the first half.
A 17-3 run from the Seahawks put them ahead, 39-30, but Tyler scored four-straight to bring it back down to a five-point game with a minute on the clock. Wagner entered the half with a 42-34 lead as Mundweiler and Baptiste each had 11 points to lead all scorers in the first 20 minutes. The Knights shot 38 percent, while the Seahawks shot 53 percent.
Fairleigh Dickinson held a 14-6 edge in points in the paint and Wagner held a 23-14 advantage on the boards.
FDU started the second half with a seven unanswered points to make it a one-point game, 42-41. The Knights out-scored Wagner 11-3 in the first four minutes as the game saw its' sixth tie, 45-45.
Grier found Mofunanya alone under the basket for a dunk to regain the lead for the Knights, 50-48, capping a 16-6 run over the first nine minutes of play in the second half.
A fast break off of Baptiste's steal led to a two-on-one, as Tyler fed Baptiste for a lay-in. Tyler followed that up with a drive to the basket to give FDU the 60-59 edge.
Wagner strung together a 7-2 run as Llewchean Radford's lay-up followed Jamal Smith connecting on 3-of-4 free throws to give the Seahawks a 66-62 edge.
Baptiste sank a pair of free throws for a two-point game, 66-64, with 2:31 left to play, but the Seahawks closed out the game with a 12-5 run. Wagner was able to hold FDU scoreless for a stretch of two minutes at the end of the game to take advantage of nine points from the charity stripe.
“When you scout a team and come up with a game plan based on your strengths, you need to take advantage and execute,” said Head Coach Tom Green. “We need to work on our post passing and I think that we need to improve our shot selection,” said Green. “The last four minutes of the game, we just weren't executing very well.”
The Knights are back in action on Jan. 8 when they play at Mount St. Mary's at 7:00 p.m.
