Dec. 6, 2005

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - Red-shirt freshman guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS / Olathe East) led nine Seahawk scorers with a career-high 23 points off the bench as host Wagner College defeated visiting Columbia University 83-71 earlier tonight at the Spiro Sports Center. With the win, the Seahawks improve to 5-1 and are off to their best start since the 1979-80 season when the Green & White started 7-0 under P.J. Carlesimo. The Lions fall to 5-2 with the loss.

With the score tied at 15 in the first half, the Seahawks went on a commanding 32-12 run over the next 9:27 in which they shot 12-14 from the field, including 6-8 from behind the arc, to take an insurmountable 47-27 lead with 33 seconds to go in the half. Columbia's Ben Nwachukwu would then convert an old-fashion three-point play to cut the lead to 47-30 at intermission. Mundweiler led the Seahawks charge, scoring 15 points on the strength of three three-pointers during the decisive run while red-shirt junior forward Matt Vitale (Brooklyn, NY / St. Edmund's Prep) had six points during the stretch.

In the first half, Wagner shot 54.8 percent (17-31) from the floor and 53.8 percent (7-13) from behind the arc, while their defense limited the Lions to just 33.3 percent (10-30) from the field.

In the second half, the Seahawks pushed their lead to a game-high 25 points with 11:40 remaining before Columbia began to chip away at the lead, cutting it to 10 at 78-68 with 55 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) would then drain four consecutive free throws to put the game away for Wagner.

For the game, Wagner shot 46.3 percent (25-54), including 45.0 percent (9-20) from behind the arc. The Lions meanwhile, shook off their first half rust to shoot 46.6 percent (27-58), for the contest, including a blistering 60.7 percent in the second half, and 50.0 percent (7-14) on three pointers.

Mundweiler's 23 points led four double-figure scorers. Senior guard DeEarnest McLemore (Cary, NC / Cary) added 11 points, while Porter had 10 points and a team-leading five assists and Vitale supplied 10 points with a pair of three pointers.

Nwachukwu led Columbia with 16 points, while KJ Matsui had 14 points and Justin Armstrong 10.

The Green & White are now off for 11 days for finals before returning to the road to take on Rhode Island on Saturday, December 17 at 7:00 pm.

~SEAHAWKS~