FINAL STATS

Staten Island, NY –Junior guard Jaytornah Wisseh tallied 25 points and dished out nine assists to lead Long Island University (LIU) to a 76-61 Northeast Conference victory over Wagner. 

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 9-6 on the season, 2-3 in the NEC while the Blackbirds, in winning their fourth straight game, improve to 8-7 overall and 4-1 in conference play. 

LIU raced out to a 37-22 halftime lead behind 11 points from Wisseh and 46 percent shooting (6-of-13) from three-point range. Wagner's lone lead came at 5-3 on a three-point jumper by senior forward Llew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) three minutes into the game. LIU then embarked on a 17-5 run capped by a David Hicks layup with 9:12 left in the half to go up 22-10. 

The Blackbirds' largest lead of the opening half was 18 when Arnold Mayorga drained a three-pointer with 4:04 left in the half to make it 34-16. Radford led the Seahawks in the first half with seven points as Wagner shot just 28 percent (8-of-29) from the field in the opening stanza. 

In the second half, Wagner would get as close as 10 points at 49-39 on a pair of free throws by fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) with 9:54 remaining in the game. But the Blackbirds countered with a quick 8-1 burst over the next 1:53, capped by a Hicks layup with 8:01 left, to build the lead back up to 18 at 58-40. 

Fifth-year senior point guard Justin Drummond (Baltimore, MD/ McDonogh) paced Wagner with 16 points and also dished out a team-high three assists. Radford registered his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Fifth-year senior forward Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds while sophomore forward Clifton Spiller (Pleasantville, NJ/ Holy Spirit) matched his career high with eight points. 

Mundweiler, who came into the game averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game, was held to four points, all from the free throw line, by LIU's aggressive defensive play. For LIU, Hicks scored 16 points and seven rebounds in support of Wisseh's spectacular play, Tyrone Mattison added nine points while the NEC's leading rebounder Ron Manigault pulled down a team-best 10 boards. 

LIU shot 52 percent from the field, highlighted by a 48 percent shooting night (10-of-21) from three-point range. Wagner won the rebounding battle 38-35 while each team turned the ball over 11 times. 

Wagner next embarks on the arduous western Pennsylvania swing which has the Seahawks playing at Saint Francis (PA) on Thursday, Jan. 15 and at Robert Morris on Saturday, January 17. Both games are slated for 7:00 pm starts.