Feb. 25, 2008
Final Stats
Moon Township, PA - It was a tale of two halves as Wagner built a 13-point first-half lead and held a seven-point edge at halftime before Robert Morris stormed back with a flurry of three-point second half jumpers to defeat the Seahawks 74-52.
In a showdown between the two first place teams in the NEC, each of whom entered the game with 13-2 conference marks, the Colonials gained sole possession of first by virtue of winning this lone regular season meeting between the schools.
Wagner (20-7, 13-3 NEC) closes its regular season with home games vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday and Quinnipiac on Saturday. Robert Morris (23-7, 14-2 NEC), concludes its regular season with road contests at Sacred Heart (16-11, 13-3) on Thursday and at Long Island on Saturday.
Robert Morris distributed the basketball in impressive fashion, placing six players in double figures while being credited with 20 assists on 28 made field goals in winning its school-record 11th straight game. Wagner, which had won eight of its previous nine games, saw its five-game winning streak come to a halt.
A.J. Jackson and Tony Lee paced the Colonials with 15 points apiece, Bateko Francisco added 13 while Jimmy Langhurst, Jeremy Chappell and Mezie Nwigwe chipped in with 10 points each. Robert Morris went 7-13 from three-point range in the second half to finish 12-28 for the game, while Wagner struggled from the perimeter, shooting just 3-20 from beyond the arc.
Senior center Durell Vinson (Vineland, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, recording his 11th double-double of season and 25th of his career. Senior guard Mark Porter (Atlantic City, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) saw his double-digit scoring streak end at 12 games as he finished with nine. Junior swingman Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) scored all nine of his points in the first half while senior forward James Ulrich (Mt. Laurel, NJ) and junior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) finished with eight points apiece.
The Seahawks were in control at the outset, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead and eventually built the lead to 32-19 with 4:07 left in the first half following a pair of free throws by Mundweiler. In a foreshadowing of things to come, Robert Morris closed the half, with a flourish, out-scoring the Seahawks 9-3 to draw to within 35-28 at halftime.
Vinson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the opening half as Wagner out-shot the Colonials 48%-39% and held a 23-11 edge in the rebounding department.
A three-point jumper by Chappell with 23 seconds remaining in the half gave Robert Morris momentum, which carried over to the second half as the Colonials opened the second stanza with a 10-2 run, capped by a Langhurst three-pointer with 16:14 left. The long-range Langhurst jumper gave Robert Morris its first lead of the game at 38-37. Wagner clawed back to re-gain a 42-39 lead on a Mundweiler three-pointer and two Porter free throws, sandwiched around Gary Wallace free throw.
A pair of three-pointers, by Nwigwe and Lee, the latter with 14:18 left, gave the Colonials the lead for good at 45-42. A Vinson dunk with 12:43 left drew the Seahawks to within 50-48 but Robert Morris then then barked on a game-clinching 21-2 run, ending the run with a 15-0 spurt.
A lay-up by Ulrich with 7:57 left made it 56-50 but the Colonials would reel off 15 unanswered points over the next 6:47 to seal the victory. Wagner, which survived its fifth overtime of the season 48 hours earlier, a double-overtime win at Saint Francis (PA), seemed to run out of energy as they scored just four points over the final 12:43 of the game, finishing with just 17 second-half points.
NOTES - Should Sacred Heart defeat Robert Morris for a second time this season and finish in a three-way first-place tie with Wager and the Robert Morris, the Seahawks would receive the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament. If Wagner finishes in a head-to-head tie for first place with Sacred Heart, the Seahawks will receive the No. 1 seed based on its 2-0 record vs. the Pioneers. If Wagner finishes in a head-to-head tie with Robert Morris, the Colonials will receive the No. 1 seed based on their win over Wagner tonight. Porter became the 12th player in Wagner history to eclipse the 1,500-point mark, as he has now scored 1,508 career points. Porter's three rebounds give him 500 for his career, while his four assists give him 497, which moved him into fifth-place all-time for his career. With three more assists, he will become just the second player in NEC history to record 500 rebounds and 500 assists in his career, joining Gregory Harris of Mount St. Mary's (1996-2000) in this exclusive club. Porter also became just the seventh player in NEC history to eclipse career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists. Vinson now has 837 rebounds and moved up to fifth on the Wagner all-time list. Vinson now has 1,089 career points and has moved up to 28th on the Seahawk all-time list. Ulrich upped his career scoring total to 978 points, just 22 shy of joining Porter and Vinson in the 1,000-point club.
