Sports

Wagner holds off Monmouth in NEC opener

Marcus Burton is turning into Wagner’s good-luck charm.

When the sophomore sharpshooter plays well, the Seahawks usually prevail.

That was again the case last night as Burton scored 15 points off the bench — including the game-sealing free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining — as Wagner held off Monmouth’s furious rally for a 60-56 victory in the two teams’ Northeast Conference opener at the Spiro Center on Staten Island.

“Any time he’s putting the ball in the hole, which he’s capable of, that makes us more of a dangerous team offensively,” Wagner coach Bashir Mason said after his team had to hold on after building a 15-point lead early in the second half. “It means we’re making shots from the perimeter, which we’ve struggled with.”

Wagner improved to 3-1 when Burton, whose production was sorely needed as high-scoring junior guard Latif Rivers sat out the contest with a suspension stemming from last season, reaches double figures. Burton was at his best in the first half, as Wagner (7-5, 1-0 NEC) struggled offensively and point guard Kenny Ortiz went to the bench with two fouls.

“I feel like I have to be more aggressive with those guys out,” he said. “Coach is always stressing me to be more aggressive even when those guys are in. I have to keep attacking.”

Another sophomore, forward Mario Moody, was equally as impressive. He scored 12 points and nine rebounds while starting in place of leading scorer Jonathan Williams, who came off the bench after suffering a hip injury recently and scored 10 points. Ortiz had 10 points and freshman Eric Fanning added eight. Andrew Nicholas led Monmouth (5-9, 0-1) with 21 points and Jesse Steele contributed 12.

Despite trailing 49-34 with 9:24 left, Monmouth had the ball down just two with 25.3 seconds remaining. But the play, designed for Steele, bogged down and Burton came away with the ball. His two free throws iced the win.

“In conference play, protecting the home court is big,” Wagner senior Josh Thompson said. “Getting this win was a definite needed win for our team.”

Though Mason is just 12 games into his head-coaching career, he is starting to feel like a veteran because of Wagner’s penchant for playing tight games. The Seahawks already have been to overtime four times and had five other games decided by single digits.

“I think [last night] I felt hair dropping out of my head,” Mason said jokingly. “It’s good I started early so my heart can handle it and my hair. I’m OK winning this way.”

Mason said he feels his young team is ahead of the curve because it has been tested so much up to this point.

“You learn a lot from close wins and you learn a lot from close losses,” he said. “Your team, they pay more attention to detail when you’re in dog fights every night because every possession counts. I would say we’re learning from these games.”