Jan. 27, 2008
Final Stats
Teaneck, NJ - Senior guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) tallied a team-high 19 points, and sank five straight free throws in the final 1:30, while senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds to lead first place Wagner to a 71-67 Northeast Conference victory over Fairleigh Dickinson.
With the win, the Seahawks improved to 14-5 on the season, 7-1 in NEC play while FDU fell to 6-12 on the season, 2-6 in NEC play. So dominant was Vinson that he had secured his seventh double-double of the season and 21st of his career in the first half alone when he had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Wagner held the Knights to 19% shooting in the opening half (6-31) in building a 34-19 lead at intermission. When a Vinson lay-up staked Wagner to its biggest lead of the game at 38-20, it appeared Wagner would coast to victory. But the scrappy Knights responded with a 21-9 run to draw to within 47-41 on a three-point jumper by senior guard Bernell Murray with 10:59 left to play.
Wagner steadied itself with a 17-11 run, capped by a Porter jumper with 3:04 left that gave the Seahawks a 64-52 lead. But the never-say-die Knights rallied down the stretch, putting together a 13-3 spurt that began and ended with a pair of free throws by senior guard Manny Ubilla, the latter pair drawing FDU to within 67-65 with 41 seconds left.
FDU's Eric Hazard had a chance to give the Knights their first lead of the game, but his straight-a-way three-point try with 19 seconds left went around and out. Junior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe, KS) chased down the rebound in the corner and alertly fed the ball to Porter, the team's best free throw shooter at 72%, who was fouled with 14 seconds left.
The gutty Porter, who played the final minutes with a sore foot that forced him to sit out for several minutes as the Knights were mounting their late comeback, calmly sank two free throws to push the lead up to 69-65. Ubilla answered with a jumper at the eight-second mark to make it 69-67.
Porter was fouled on the ensuing possession with six seconds left and, once again, drained two free throws to put the Seahawks up 71-67. A three-point attempt by Murray bounded off the rim as time ran out.
Senior swingman Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) added 10 points and seven rebounds before departing with a bruised knee that forced him to sit out the final 5:33 of the game;. Senior forward James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ/ Camden Catholic) also added 10 points, while grabbing five rebounds.
The Seahawks' defensive effort, spearheaded by Porter, helped limit Ubilla to 13 points on 4-13 shooting. The senior guard came into the game second in the NEC in scoring at 21.3 points per game. Wagner out-shot FDU 47%-30% and held a 47-39 edge in the rebounding department.
The Seahawks are next in action on Thursday, Jan. 31 when they attempt to avenge their only NEC loss of the season when they host LIU. On Jan. 17, the Blackbirds defeated Wagner 85-65 in Brooklyn. Tip-off for the Wagner-LIU game is is set for 7:00 pm.
NOTES: Porter's 19 points give him 1,350 for his career and moves him into 14th place on the Wagner all-time scoring list, ahead of Dedrick Dye (1999-03) who scored 1,349 points. Next on the list in 13th place is Fred Klittich (1961-64) at 1,404 points. The 14 wins ties for the most wins in a season in the five-year Mike Deane era, as the 2005-05 Seahawks went 14-16. Wagner's seven road wins this season (7-3) equals the amount achieved by the Seahawks' 2002-03 NCAA Tournament team.
