Nov. 20, 2007

Box Score

Staten Island, NY - Senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ) scored a career-high 27 points on 13-of-17 shooting and his former high school teammate at St. Augustine Prep in South Jersey, senior guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ), scored 22 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists as Wagner ran past William and Mary, 88-81.

The Wagner victory was fueled by a high-octane 21-3 second half run that broke open a game that was tied at 39-39 three and a half minutes into the second half. Vinson scored 10 of those Wagner points in the decisive run that covered a span of 7:46 and provided the Seahawks with a commanding 60-42 lead with less than nine minutes left to play.

With the victory, Wagner snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 2-2 on the season while the Tribe fell to 0-3 on the year.

Wagner used its superior quickness and athleticism in going on its big second half run, which was in contrast to a first half which was played at a much slower, half-court tempo that William & Mary prefers. The Seahawks were able to increase the pace of the game in the second half and score on a number of breakouts and buckets driving to the basket. Wagner shot a scintillating 69% (20-of-29) from the field in totaling 57 second half points.

In an evenly-played first half, Wagner out-shot William & Mary by a scant 43%-42% margin in taking a 31-29 halftime lead. Vinson was able to establish himself in the low post early as he tallied 11 points and four rebounds in the opening half. Porter and junior forward Lew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) chipped in with six points apiece in the opening 20 minutes.

Wagner entered the season with a starting five that had all scored 500 or more career points and, on this night, all five of those starters hit for double figures. In addition to Vinson's 27 and Porter's 19, junior swingman Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) had 11 points while senior forward James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ/ Camden Catholic) and junior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) added 10 points apiece. Coming off a sharp 11-point outing at Saint Peter's, Radford again supplied production off the bench, chiming in with eight points on 4-6 shooting.

Wagner shot a season-best 56.1% from the field, handed out a season-high 20 assists and out-rebounded the Tribe, 38-25. Danny Sumner and David Schneider led William & Mary with 18 points apiece. The win marked Wagner's first-ever win over the Tribe, who play out of the well-respected Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and who come into the contest holding a 3-0 record all-time vs. the Seahawks.

Wagner is next in action on Sat., Nov. 24 when the Seahawks host 3-1 Bucknell of the Patriot League, one of the nation's top mid-major programs in recent years. Tip-off for the Seahawks-Bison game is set for 2:00 pm