FINAL STATS

Staten Island, NY - Ken Horton scored a game-high 23 points to lead Central Connecticut St. to a 72-64 Northeast Conference victory over Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center.

The Seahawks fell for the fourth consecutive game and saw their record fall to 10-10 on the season, 3-7 in the NEC. The Blue Devils, who defeated Wagner 67-57 on Jan. 8, are also 10-10 on the year and are now 6-4 in conference play.

Horton, a long, rangy 6-6, 190-pound small forward who came into the game averaging 17.9 ppg., tallied 14 in the opening half as the Blue Devils shot 63 percent from the floor in racing out to a 38-25 halftime lead.

Both teams were scoreless for the first 3:27 of the second half until a Joe Seymore jumper with 16:33 left increased. CCSU's lead to 40-25. Wagner would cut it to 10 at 44-34 following a pair of free throws by senior forward Llew Radford (Newport News, VA/ Heritage) before the Blue Devils extended the lead back out to 13 at 47-34.

Wagner then embarked on a 10-4 spurt to draw to within 51-44 on a three-point jumper by fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) with 10:32 left. The Blue Devils then answered with a 9-0 run, keyed by five points from Seymore, to push the lead up to 16 points at 60-44 with 7:40 remaining.

At this point, the pace of the game quickened and Wagner began to build momentum by making big plays in the open floor. Sophomore forward Clifton Spiller (Pleasantville, NJ/ Holy Spirit), who gained the first start of his career, began the surge with a tip-in at the 7:16 mark which ignited a 14-3 Seahawk run over the next 3:40. This surge brought Wagner to within five points at 63-58 with 4:00 to play, a run that was capped by a Radford layup.

Wagner's frantic rally would draw the Seahawks to within three points at 67-64 on a three-point jumper by Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/ Apex Academies) with 1:03 to play. But the Blue Devils scored the final five points of the game in holding on for the win.

Central Connecticut began the game on a 7-3 run before Wagner used four points from redshirt sophomore guard TJ Czeski (Amsterdam, NY/ Amsterdam) to tie the game up at 7-7. After CCSU reclaimed the lead with a bucket, Wagner scored four straight to take its only lead of the game at 11-9 with 15:24 left in the half on a Czeski layup.

After the teams exchanged baskets, the Blue Devils ripped off an 11-0 run over the next 5:09 – including nine straight from Horton to start the run, which made it 22-11 with 9:01 to go. Radford quelled the run with a pair of baskets to cut it to 22-17 with 6:42 to go. CCSU would continue to attack, extending the lead to 13 at intermission.

Seymore and Shemik Thompson supported Horton's 23-point outburst with 14 points apiece on the night for CCSU. Wagner senior forward Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) paced the Seahawks with 13 points while Radford and Martin chipped in with 12 points apiece. The Blue Devils shot 53 percent for the game while Wagner checked in at 41 percent. CCSU held a narrow 32-31 edge in the rebounding department.

NOTES – Wagner College head coach Mike Deane received two technical fouls during the game and was ejected. The Wagner College athletic department has a policy which dictates that any Seahawk coach who is ejected from a game must sit out the following game. Thus, Deane will not be on the sidelines when Wagner plays at Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at 4:00 pm in a game that will be televised live on MSG. Associate head coach Kenyon Spears will assume the head coaching duties for Saturday's game. Mundweiler went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and, in the process, tied Dedrick Dye (1999-2003) for the No. 1 spot on the Wagner all-time made three-pointer list with 270.