Feb. 16, 2008
Final Stats
Staten Island, NY - Senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) turned in another Herculean effort, scoring 19 points and pulling down 19 rebounds as Wagner remained tied for first place in the Northeast Conference with a 68-61 victory over Monmouth.
For Vinson, it was his second consecutive double-double, (17 points, 14 rebounds vs. Sacred Heart on Thursday), his NEC-leading 10th of the season and 24th of his career.
In winning its fourth straight game and seventh in its last eight, Wagner improved to 19-6 and remained in a tie with Robert Morris atop the NEC standings. The Seahawks and Colonials, 73-65 victors over St. Francis (NY) earlier in the day, sport identical 12-2 league records. The victory also assures Wagner of hosting at least one game in next month's NEC Tournament as the format calls for each tourney game to be held on the home floor of the higher seed.
Playing its second game in 48 hours and third in the last six days, Wagner had to work hard for this one against a young, scrappy Monmouth team that had not played in a week. In dropping their sixth straight game, the Hawks fell to 5-20 on the season, 2-11 in the NEC.
Most of the game was played at the deliberate pace that Monmouth prefers and the team's entered halftime tied at 33-33. The game was tied at 43-43 when junior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) drained a three-pointer to give Wagner a three-point lead that spearheaded a 12-4 run that opened the Seahawks' biggest lead of the game of eight, 55-47, with 6:39 left to play.
The Hawks would scrap back, answering with a 12-4 run of their own, tie knot to score at 59-59 with 1:28 left on a three-point jumper by R.J. Rutledge. Junior guard Justin Drummond (Baltimore, MD/ McDonogh) made 1-2 free throws at the 1:04 mark to give Wagner the lead for good as the Seahawks closed the game by out-scoring Monmouth 8-2 the rest of the way.
A key sequence in the game-ending Wagner run came on the defensive end. With Wagner clinging to a 62-59 lead following a pair of Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/ Vineland, NJ) free throws, Vinson rejected a James Hett lay-up attempt, sending the ball deep into the student section behind the Monmouth basket, which energized the alrwady lively Wagner crowd.
On the ensuing inbounds play following the Vinson block, Porter with the ball flying into the student section behind the backboard. On the ensuing inbounds play, Yaniv Simpson missed long on a three-point jumper from the deep left corner. Porter snared the weakside rebound and was fouled with Rutledge with 27 seconds left.
As has been his custom in the clutch all season, Porter calmly sank both free throws as Wagner built a six-point cushion. Porter, on the heels of a career-high 28-point outing in Wagner's stirring double-overtime win over Sacred Heart Thursday night, made 7-9 free throws down the stretch to seal the win and finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
For Porter, who went 9-10 from the free throw line, it was his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career. Mundweiler finished with 13 points while junior forward Llewchean Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) and junior guard Doug Elwell (Staten Island, NY/ Monsignor Farrell) added six points apiece. Elwell, who drained a pair of three-pointers, has been a key player of late for the Seahawks as he was coming off a fine five-point, four-assist outing in the victory over Sacred Heart.
Led by Vinson's commanding performance on the glass, Wagner enjoyed am overwhelming 55-25 advantage in the rebounding department. The victory, while not easy by any means, broke a three-game stretch of overtime victories by the Seahawks.
Nick DelTufo paced Monmouth with 13 points while Rutledge added 10.
The Seahawks are next in action on Thursday, Feb. 21 when they travel to Saint Francis (PA) in the first game of the western Pennsylvania swing that concludes with a showdown at Robert Morris on Sat., Feb. 23. Both games are 7:00 pm tip-offs.
NOTES - The 12 NEC wins are tied for the third-highest single-season total by a Wagner team. The 2001-02 squad won 15 NEC games, the 2002-03 team won 14 and the 1992-93 won 12. Vinson became just the eighth player in school history to eclipse the 800-rebound mark as he is eighth all-time in career boards with 805. Mundweiler, who went 3-7 from three-point range vs. Monmouth, became just the third Seahawk to eclipse the 200-three-point FG made mark. He is third all-time at Wagner with 202 made three-pointers in his career. Wagner is on the verge of becoming just the fourth team in school history to win 20 games in a season. Head coach Mike Deane, who improved to 412-291 in his career, has moved to within one game of the .500 mark in his five-year Wagner tenure as he now stands at 70-71. During Wagner's current four-game winning streak, Porter is averaging 21.8 ppg.
