BROOKLYN, N.Y. - There's no such thing as an easy win when St. Francis Brooklyn and Wagner share the floor. The rivalry that has spanned the length of the Verrazano Bridge for more than 50 years has been built on physicality and toughness and Thursday afternoon was no different.
In the "standalone game" at The ARC, the Terriers built a seemingly insurmountable 19-point lead in the second half only to be hit with a Seahawk buzzer-beater that forced overtime. After five minutes of overtime basketball, Di'Andre Howell-South and the Terriers stood tall when the redshirt freshman splashed the game-winner with just two seconds on the clock.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The two sides were even through the first seven and a half minutes as the foes settled into their final meeting of the regular season.
St. Francis made its first move of the contest with an 8-2 run over the span of nearly four and a half minutes. The run was capped when Trey Quartlebaum pinned a driving layup attempt by Wagner's Julian Brown to the backboard and Josiah Harris cleaned up Michael Myrie's fast break chance at the other end.
Zion Bethea gave the Terriers their biggest lead of the second half, 26-18, on his first three-pointer of the day with 2:33 remaining in the first half.
The Terriers lead 26-20 at the break after holding the Seahawks with just six field goals on .222 shooting. Bethea and Nuha Sagnia combined to give the home team nine points off the bench, compared to just two from Wagner.
St. Francis extended its lead coming out of the locker room with an 11-4 run over the first six minutes of the second half. Tedrick Wilcox Jr. sunk the second of his team-high three triples to help add five of the 11 points in the run.
It was Bethea again behind the arc on back-to-back possessions that gave SFBK its largest lead of the day, 19 points, with 11:53 to play in regulation.
A 19-point advantage would be substantive on many days, but not between these two teams. Wagner took the Terriers' best punch and was ready to respond.
The Seahawks pounded the paint through the final 11 minutes of regulation to methodically whittle down the Terrier lead. Wagner was 11-15 from the field in that stretch and did not attempt a three-pointer until the final 2:07 of the second half.
The Seahawks' Julian Brown and Javier Ezquerra combined on the next two possessions for back-to-back threes to cut the Terrier lead, 54-53, to just one point.
After a Terrier miss, Wagner had the chance to take the lead out of a timeout with 24 seconds remaining. Off the sideline inbounds, Ezquerra spun his way into the paint and was promptly rejected by Harris.
Wagner fouled twice at the other end to get the ball back and Wilcox Jr. hit both free throws to give St. Francis a 56-53 lead with three seconds on the clock. Out of a timeout, the Seahawks set up the final possession of regulation with Delonnie Hunt charging down the court and launching up a prayer from just outside the center court circle that found the cup.
The Terriers and Seahawks were destined for five minutes of overtime with 56 points each on the scoreboard.
Wagner's Brandon Brown scored the first two points of overtime at the line with 3:53 to play. Nineteen seconds later, Brown collided with Wilcox Jr. after Wilcox heaved up a shot from way beyond the three-point line. The high-arching shot fell and Wilcox made it a four-point play at the line, with the Terriers leading 60-58.
St. Francis held Wagner without a field goal in overtime but Brown hit six of his eight free throw attempts in the extra period to keep the Seahawks in the contest. He tied the game at the line with seven seconds remaining after Bethea was called for his fifth foul of the day.
Roy Clarke inbounded the ball off the second make with purpose, giving to Harris to start the clock and getting the ball right. Clarke drove down the center of the court and kicked to Howell-South from the top of the key. Howell-South was waiting in the corner with room to shoot and sunk the long two with just under two seconds remaining.
Wagner looked to recreate their success from the end of regulation but Hunt's second attempt came up short and the Terriers mobbed Howell-South after he secured them a 64-62 overtime win.
The victory ensures a season sweep over the Northeast Conference teams that call New York City home (Wagner and LIU) for the first time since 2019 and just the third time since the 1998-99 season.
TEAM LEADERS
Josiah Harris set a new career high with his third double-double in the past four games. Harris logged a new best 20 points and 4 blocks while adding 11 rebounds. He was a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line.
He now stands at five double-doubles on the year.
Tedrick Wilcox Jr. clocked his fifth consecutive game with 15+ points, finishing with 18 points on 6-11 (.545) shooting and 3-7 shooting from three-point range.
Zion Bethea finished with 15 points for the second straight game, matching Wilcox with 3-7 shooting from deep. He led all players with three steals.
Di'Andre Howell-South added to his overtime heroics with a career-high 12 rebounds
Roy Clarke led all players with five assists.
NEXT UP: The Terriers make their first trip to Easton, Mass. for their final meeting with Stonehill in the Skyhawks inaugural season in the NEC. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.