Nov. 10, 2006

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - The Wagner College Seahawks men's basketball team fell 76-70 to Lafayette in the 2006-07 season opener earlier tonight. Wagner (0-1) trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half and grabbed the lead in the second half on three separate occasions, but the come back fell short to the visiting Leopards (1-0).

Wagner red-shirt sophomore Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS / Olathe East) equaled a school record with seven three-pointers to lead all scorers with 22 points on the night.

In the first half after Porter gave the Seahawks a 2-0 lead in the opening seconds it was all Lafayette for the next five minutes. The Leopards started off 5-6 from three as they went on a 19-0 run to take a 19-2 advantage. Andrew Brown nailed a trio of three-pointers to help spark the stretch for Lafayette. The lead then grew to as many as 19 before the Seahawks started chipping away.

Following the 19 point deficit, Wagner ran off 10 straight off their own, including a three and a dunk from junior Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ / At. Augustine's Prep) to eventually pull within eight (23-15) midway through the half. Lafayette would climb back on top by 15 with 5:21 left before the Seahawks clawed to within 10 (39-29) at the half.

Trailing 41-29 a few minutes into the second half, the Seahawks went on a 13-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 42-41 at the 15:41 mark. Mundweiler's fourth three of the game capped off the run which was also fueled by five points from junior James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ / Camden Catholic).

The teams would then keep it close and trade baskets over the next five minutes, as Wagner was taking two more leads of one point each again following threes from Mundweiler. After the final Wagner lead of 53-52 with 11 minutes left the Leopards outscored the Seahawks 10-1 over the next four minutes to move in control by eight (62-54) with seven minutes left.

Wagner scored the next five points, including another three from Mundweiler, but Lafayette sealed the win with a final 12-2 run, including two more threes from Brown.

Porter was also in double figures for Wagner with 16 points to go with six assists and four rebounds. The Seahawks shot 37.3 percent from the field and were just 17-29 (58.6%) at the foul line. Wagner held a 41-30 advantage in rebounding.

Jamaal Hilliard led the way for Lafayette with 16 points followed by Brown with 15 and Bilal Abdullah with 14. The Leopards shot 50.0 percent for the game and hit 10-23 (43.5%) from beyond the arc.

Mundweiler equaled a mark established six other times, most recently by Dedrick Dye ('03) on January 25, 2003, who accomplished the feat three times himself.

The Seahawks return to action on the road next Tuesday at 7:00 pm in an inner city match-up at Manhattan.

~ wagnerathletics.com ~