FINAL STATS

Staten Island, NY – Sacred Heart held off Wagner 68-64 in a wild and wooly affair that featured four ties and 13 lead changes in front of a frenzied, school-record crowd of 2,338 fans at the Spiro Sports Center,

The previous largest crowd in school history was 2,327, who were on hand for the NEC Championship game vs. St. Francis (NY) on March 12, 2003. In suffering its third straight defeat, the Seahawks saw their record fall to 10-9 overall and 3-6 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Pioneers improved to 8-11, 4-5 in NEC play.

Sacred Heart took a 40-38 lead in a fast-paced first half as both teams came out blazing from the field, with Wagner hitting 58 percent of its shots in the first half with the Pioneers shooting 55 percent. Wagner seemed to take control of the game midway through the second half. A three-point jumper by fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/Olathe East) eight seconds into the second stanza put Wagner up 41-40 and ignited an 18-7 spurt that staked the Seahawks to a 56-47 lead with 10:01 left to play.

Included in the 18-7 Seahawk run was a 7-0 stretch when Wagner held the Pioneers scoreless for 6:31. A Shane Gibson layup with 9:14 left began a 14-4 Sacred Heart run that was capped by a Joey Henley dunk which put the Pioneers back on top at 61-60 with 4:06 remaining.

Seahawk senior forward Llew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) made the second of two free throws with 3:51 to go, knotting at 61-61. A Mundweiler three-point jumper from the left corner appeared to go halfway down before spinning out. Jerrell Thompson then countered with a jump shot with 3:06 to play put Sacred Heart up for good at 63-61. The Pioneers then made their share of big plays down the stretch in ending the game with a 7-3 spurt that carried them to victory.

When fifth-year senior guard Justin Drummond (Baltimore, MD/ McDonogh) came up with a midcourt steal leading to a fast break dunk, Wagner was to within 67-64 and the crowd was ignited once again. But trailing by that three-point margin with a chance to tie, the Seahawks turned the ball over with 11 seconds left and Chauncy Hardy made the front end of the one-and-one to fashion the final score of 68-64.

It was Hardy who supplied the bulk of the offense in the opening half for Sacred Heart as the smooth-shooting junior scored 21 first-half points on the strength of 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Hardy wound up 8-of-11 overall from the field, 6-of-8 from long range while power forward Joe Henley supplied the muscle on the inside with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Fifth-year senior forward Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) paced Wagner with 16 points and added four rebounds and four steals. Mundweiler led Wagner in the opening with nine points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc and finished 4-of-8 from long range en route to a 14-point performance. Drummond played a solid floor game and finished with 12 points, five assists and a career-high five steals.

Sacred Heart out-shot Wagner 55%-35% in the second half and did a much better defensive job on the perimeter over the final 20 minutes. The Seahawks were 6-of-7 from beyond the arc in the opening and just 1-of-7 from deep in the second half. Sacred Heart won the rebounding battle, 29-27. 

The Seahawks return to action on Thursday, January 29 when they host Central Connecticut State in a 7:00 pm tip-off at the Spiro Center.

NOTES – A major theme of Wagner's Alumni Day celebration was the 30-year anniversary of the 1978-79 Seahawk team that went to the NIT. P.J. Carlesimo, the head coach of that team, and several members of that squad were on hand for a pre-game reception and were recognized during a timeout in the first half. Mundweiler's four three-pointers give him 267 for his career, leaving him four away from unseating Dedrick Dye (270 from 199-2003) for the No. 1 spot in the Seahawk all-time list.