ESPN Men's Basketball

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Marcus Burton led four Wagner players in double figures with 15 points as they beat Monmouth (N.J.) 60-56 Thursday night in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams.

Mario Moody finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Kenneth Ortiz and Jonathon Williams added 10 points apiece for Wagner (7-5).

Trailing by 15, 49-34, with 9:28 remaining in the second half, Monmouth (5-9) cut the lead to just one, 55-54, behind Andrew Nicholas' three-point play with 1:34 left to play.

After Moody made a pair of free throws to extend Wagner's lead to three, 57-54, Jesse Steele's layup made it 57-56 with 47 seconds remaining.

Burton connected on 3 of 4 free throws in the last 25 seconds and Dion Nesmith had a crucial turnover for Monmouth with 9 seconds left as Wagner held on for the victory.

Nicholas led the Hawks with a game-high 21 points.