Staten Island, N.Y. (February 10, 2022)—Jalen Benjamin scored a team-high 16 points, but it was not enough to overcome a quick start in a 69-57 loss at Northeast Conference leader Wagner on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center. 

Wagner jumped out to a 26-10 lead midway through the first half on the strength of a 23-to-5 run after the Mount had taken an early 5-3 advantage.  The Seahawks (17-2, 13-0 NEC), who entered the game last in the NEC in three-point percentage at 28.0 percent, connected on their first four three-point attempts to help build the 16-point cushion.  The Mount (11-12, 7-6 NEC) was unable to make a dent in that deficit and trailed, 39-23, at the break.

Mount St. Mary's cut the deficit to 43-30 on a Frantisek Barton basket five minutes into the second half, but Wagner with the next four points to push the margin back to 17.  The Mountaineers used a late 7-0 run to pull within 10 points at 65-55 with 1:28 remaining, but that was as close as the score would get and Wagner came away with the 12-point victory.
Benjamin was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range for his team-high 16 points.  Dakota Leffew added nine points off the bench while Thomas finished with eight points and four assists.  Barton chipped in seven points and four rebounds off the bench as well.

Senior forward Malik Jefferson had six points and a team-high nine rebounds in the contest.  The nine boards give Jefferson 734 in his career, the second-most rebounds by a Mount player in the school's NCAA Division I era (since 1988-89).  The 6-9 forward needs 13 more boards to move past Michael Watson (746, 1991-95) for the school's Division I record.

Reigning NEC Player of the Year Alex Morales led anger with 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists in a strong performance. Will Martinez added 13 points off the bench while Raekwon Rogers had nine points and 10 rebounds in the win.

Wagner finished the game shooting 48.1 percent overall and 8-of-18 (.444) from three-point range.  The Mount was held to 37.7 percent shooting overall and 6-of-17 (.353) from beyond the arc.

Mount St. Mary's is back in action on Saturday, February 12, with a 4:00 p.m. game at Saint Francis U.