Dec. 4, 2007
Box Score
Staten Island, NY - Despite a 25-point, eight-assist outing by senior guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/ St. Augustine), hot-shooting Columbia built a 40-29 halftime lead en route to an impressive 79-65 victory over Wagner, ending the Seahawks' four-game winning streak.
With the defeat, Wagner falls to 5-3 on the season while the Lions, who led in this game wire to wire, improved to 3-5.
Columbia got out of the gates early, jumping out to a 16-5 lead on a three-pointer by K.J. Matsui with 12:20 to play in the first half. The closest Wagner would get the rest of the first half was seven on a jumper by junior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS. Olathe East) that made it 18-11 t the 9:35 mark. A Baumann dunk, however, triggered 13-6 Lion spurt that made it 31-19.
Trailing by that 40-29 count at intermission, Wagner fought gallantly to try and get back into the game but cold free throw shooting repeatedly quelled the Seahawk comeback efforts. The closest Wagner got in the second half was seven at 56-49 following a pair of Porter free throws with 9:43 left in the game. But Matsui answered with a three-point jumper to spark a 14-5 spurt that gave the Lions their biggest lead of the game of 16 at 70-54 with 4:41 left to play. Wagner shot just 10-of-23 (44%) from the free throw line.
Columbia, which shot 55% overall from the field and 50% from three-point range, received a 13-point outing from Mack Montgomery while Justin Armstrong and Matsui added 12 points apiece. Columbia won the rebounding battle, 37-28.
Mundweiler finished with 14 points for the Seahawks while junior captain Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) added 11. Junior forward Llwechean Radford (Newport News, VA. Heritage) chipped in with seven points and four rebounds off the bench. Senior forward James Ulrich (Mr. Laurel, NJ/ Camden Catholic), after turning in a fine 15-point, nine-rebound game in Saturday's win over Yale, was held scoreless but did pull down five rebounds and added two assists in a 22-minute outing.
Porter was 6-of-10 from three-point range and the six made three-pointers were a career high. Senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/ St. Augustine) added eight points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Wagner is next in action on Sat., Dec. 8 when the Seahawks host St. Francis (NY) in the NEC opener for both teams. The game, which will be televised live on MSG, will tip-off at Noon and will be the first game of a doubleheader as the Wagner women's team hosts St. Francis (NY) ay 2:00 pm. Prior to the tip-off of the Wagner-St. Francis (NY), tribute will be paid to former Seahawk Sports Information Director Bob Balut, who tragically passed on March 6, 2007 at age 32 following a courageous battle with colon cancer.
Bob's dedication, loyalty, passion and talents touched everyone with whom he came into contact. He served in the Wagner athletic department from 1997-2003, left behind his wife, Erica, a former basketball player at Wagner, and two-year old son, Adain.
