Feb. 2, 2008
Final Stats
New Britain, CT - Freshman forward Ken Horton scored 26 points and senior guard Tristan Blackwood added 18 as Central Connecticut State overcame a 39-38 halftime deficit and went on to post an 89-63 victory over Wagner.
With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 15-6, 8-2 in the Northeast Conference while the Blue Devils improve to 10-12, 6-5 in NEC play. Wagner was playing without the services of junior swingman and captain Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic), who suffered a sprained ankle in the waning moments of Thursday's win over LIU.
Following a fast-paced, evenly-matched first half, CCSU exploded out of the gates with a 10-2 run over the first 3:02 of the second half to seize a 48-41 lead on a Horton lay-up with 16:58 remaining in the game. A three-pointer by senior guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) cut the deficit to five at 58-53 with 13:58 left but that's as close as the Seahawks would get the rest of the way.
The Blue Devils responded with a 16-2 run over the next 5:56, a stretch that was capped by a Horton three-point jumper, which opened a commanding 74-55 lead with 8:02 left to play in the game.
The game featured a match-up of two of the elite guards in the NEC in Porter and Blackwood. These two, who guarded each other most of the game, stood toe-to-toe in the first half while taking turns hitting big shots. Blackwood shot 4-9 from the field and scored 11 first-half points while Porter tallied 15 of his 18 points in the opening stanza, capped by a steal, which led to a driving fast break lay-up with two seconds left in the half that gave Wagner the one-point lead.
Seahawk senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) scored 12 points on 6-8 shooting and, in the process, became the 34th player in Wagner history to top the 1,000 career-point mark. The leading rebounder in the NEC at 10.6 rpg., Vinson pulled down eight boards, despite playing just 21 minutes due to foul trouble. Senior forward James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ/ Camden Catholic) added 12 points on 5-8 shooting but struggled at the foul line, going 2-10 from the charity stripe. Junior forward Llewchean Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) added eight points.
Wagner was playing its second game in 48 hours after earning a hard-fought 68-65 win over LIU Thursday night, while the home-standing Blue Devils were well-rested, having not played since Jan. 26. CCSU out-shot Wagner 57%-28% in the decisive second half while out-rebounding the Seahawks 28-14 over the final 20 minutes.
Today's game marked the first of three consecutive road games for the Seahawks. On Thursday, the Seahawks travel to Mount St. Mary's for a 7:00 pm tip-off before playing at Quinnipiac on Feb. 11.
