Jan. 7, 2006
Box Score
Fairfield, CT - The Seahawks shot a season low 32.2 percent from the floor and made just two three pointers on their way to a 61-50 loss at Northeat Conference foe Sacred Heart at the Pitt Center. The defeat drops Wagner to 1-2 in the league and 8-4 overall.
Sacred Heart, 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the NEC, jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead as Wagner missed its first six shots from the field. Redshirt Freshman Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD / Towson Catholic) then responded with two straight buckets for the Seahawks to bring the margin back down to two points.
With 5:49 left in the period SHU had doubled up the Seahawks 24-12 after a 17-7 run. The run was part of a 26-11 stretch that but the Pioneers up 17 33-16 with 33 seconds to play in the period. A runner by senior DeEarnest McLemore (Cary, NC / Cary) and a steal and basket by Smith pulled Wagner back to a 33-20 deficit at intermission. The Seahawks enter the game as the best shooting team in the NEC, but shot to just 26 percent (6-23) from the field.
Wagner, came out on fire to start the second half hitting its first four shots and with 13:04 to play in the game a pair of free throws by McLemore had the Seahawks within three at 37-34. Another McLemore jumper cut the SHU lead to 39-38 with 10:08 left.
The Pioneers responded and scored the next six points, on a pair of layups by Kibwe Trim and a Jarrid Frye dunk, to lead 45-38 with 8:24 to play.
The Seahawks had one more run left in them. A three from sophomore Joey Mudweiler (Olathe, KS / Olathe), the first in the game for Wagner, with 4:07 to go cut the Pioneer led to 50-47. After Trim answered with a pair of free throws for SHU, sophomore James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Camden Catholic) buried another three for Wagner to make it 52-50 with 2:55 left. It would be the last points the Seahawks would score.
Junior guard Tavio Hobson drove to the basket and was nailed while completing a layup by Ulrich. He canned the free throw to push the margin to five. A missed jumper at the other end by Wagner resulted in a Trim layup at the other end and the Pioneers led 57-50 with 1:50 left. Wagner turned the ball over and Trim dunked to put the game away.
Smith led Wagner with 14 points grabbing eight rebounds in the process, while McLemore finished with 10. Junior center Durell Vinson finished with his fourth straigh double-double owning 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Wagner shot just 32 percent from the field in the game, including two of 14 from three after missing thier first 10 shots from beyond the arc. The Seahawks ranked fourth in the country hitting .429 from three coming in. Wagner out rebounded Sacred Heart 43-36 marking the fourth straight game with an edge on the glass.
Trim had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the victors as Frye chipped in 18 points as well.
