‘Fixer’ did not succeed in bribing hoops players

A Wagner College graduate may have claimed he could fix a college basketball game involving his own school, but a source close to the program cast doubt on his connection to the players whom he bragged about.

Former Wagner student Benjamin Bifalco attempted to fix a game between Wagner and St. John’s on Dec. 16, 2018, and boasted in tape recordings he had paid three Seahawks starters $7,500 to make sure St. John’s won by at least 20 points, as documented in a front page story in Friday’s Post. In February, the 25-year-old plead guilty to attempted sports bribery.

“It’s crazy to be associated with this,” a source tied to the Wagner basketball program told The Post.

Bifalco proved to be nothing more than a big talker. He didn’t pay off any of the players although he told childhood friend and Colombo mob family associate Joseph Amato Jr., he did to assure their cooperation. Bifalco did admit to Brooklyn federal Judge I. Leo Glasser that he offered one Wagner player money through Snapchat to lose by a certain amount of points, but the player refused to accept the offer.

Bifalco never even wagered on the game himself — Wagner ended up covering the 17-point spread, losing 73-58 — and the source said he never paid any players during his time at the school.

“The guys he was supposedly connected to, did they know him? Yes. Did he give them money? That didn’t happen,” the source said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said Bifalco had class with a number of players on the team. The coaching staff met with those players after word spread of Bifalco’s plan and his guilty plea, but believed they were not complicit in the plan after speaking to them and looking into the matter.

“Our guys knew who he was. There was no wrongdoing found,” the source said. “They acknowledged that they knew him. But they didn’t take anything from him.”

Eli Davis, a senior on the team who averaged 12.2 points that season, told The Post over Instagram direct message, “I have no information about it, and I don’t know anything about it.”

When reached by The Post, Wagner coach Bashir Mason declined comment. So did St. John’s.

“We are aware of the charges to which Benjamin Bifalco pleaded guilty in February,” Wagner said in a statement. “It should be noted that the investigation that led to Bifalco’s guilty plea did not implicate any Wagner student-athletes, coaches or athletic administrators in any wrongdoing.”