Jan. 2, 2006
Final Stats
By Cormac Gordan
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The last time Wagner visited the Sewall Center was in March when the No. 6-seeded Seahawks upset No. 3 seed Robert Morris in the opening round of the 2005 Northeast Conference tournament.
There was no such magic last night, as Wagner fell victim to some lethal long-range shooting and a rebounding breakdown at game's end in a 95-90 loss to the Colonials in the Seahawks' NEC season opener.
Durell Vinson scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, making it back-to-back double-doubles for the 6-foot-7 junior following a 19 and 12 performance Friday in a win over Stony Brook.
Mark Porter had 18 points and James Ulrich and DeEarnest McLemore added 17 each, but the Seahawks dropped to 7-3 overall by surrendering six unanswered points in the final 26 seconds after taking a late 90-89 lead.
The Colonials (6-5, 2-0) were led by junior college transfer A.J. Jackson's 27 points and 11 rebounds. And guard Derek Coleman scored 25 points, making 7 of 10 three-pointers as RMU went 12 of 26 from deep.
Wagner lost small forward Jamal Smith for the evening four minutes into the game with what has been preliminarily described as a sprained left ankle. Smith left the Sewall Center on crutches at game's end.
"We beat ourselves," coach Mike Deane said after the Seahawks lost only their second NEC regular-season game since being beaten 65-57 by the Colonials here last January. "We didn't do a good job at the end of the game, and we didn't rebound when we had to. And it got us."
In fact, Wagner led 90-89 following an Ulrich basket off a DeEarnest McLemore steal with 30 seconds remaining.
But the Colonials answered immediately on a Jeremy Chappelle basket for a 91-90 lead, when Wagner failed to get back on defense.
"Ridiculous," Deane branded the mistake.
Then, after Porter missed a runner in the lane with 24 seconds left, Coleman was fouled.
He stepped to the line with a chance to give RMU a three-point lead.
The Boston-area junior made his first free throw and missed the second.
But 6-foot Colonial guard Tony Lee grabbed the most important board of the game, and was fouled with six seconds remaining.
He made one of two for a 93-90 edge ... and again RMU grabbed the miss.
"That ended any chance that we had," said Deane, who used forward Llewchean Radford for the first time all season despite the freshman's status as a probable redshirt.
The bouncy 6-4 Radford, who injured his foot in a preseason non-basketball accident, was pressed into service to help fill the void left by the redshirt freshman Smith, who is not expected back for Thursday's home NEC contest versus Quinnipiac.
"Llew has been saying he wanted to play," said Deane. "And he's been playing well in practice. We needed him."
Radford played just two minutes, scoring two points. The Colonials were 9 of 18 on three-pointers in the first half alone, with Coleman along knocking down four from long distance. The 5-11 guard, who came into last night averaging 11.6 points and 5.5 three-attempts per game, was 4 of 6 prior to the break.
The nine threes in a half were more than any of Wagner's previous opponents had managed in a full game. And the 50 percent accuracy in the half by RMU is close to double the 26 percent Seahawk opponents have been averaging this season.
In fact, in the previous nine Wagner games, opponents have made a total of only 15 first-half threes.
And Deane insisted there were no free looks last night.
"They weren't open shots," he said. "They just shot the ball well, and controlled the pace of the game."
And of Coleman?
"He had a huge game," said Deane. "He's a good shooter, and we let him get off to a hot start."
Still, the Wagner coach wasn't terribly unhappy with the overall performance by his club in its NEC opener.
"We were on the road against a good team and we had a chance to win at the end of the game," he said. "I didn't expect to go 18-0 in the league, and even with the mistakes, if we made a shot or grab a rebound at the right time, we win." ------
NOTES: RMU's 95 points are the most Wagner has allowed in Deane's two-plus seasons on Grymes Hill ... Smith will undergo tests on his ankle today ... Vinson turned in the performance he did despite picking up his fourth foul with 14:26 remaining ... Wagner began last season 1-7 in the conference, then advanced to the league tournament title game.
