Staten Island, NY – The Columbia Lions, the nation's No. 1 three-point shooting team coming into the game, went 7-of-11 from beyond the arc in building a commanding first half lead and then staved off a furious late rally by Wagner in hanging on for a 102-91 victory.

Sophomore guard Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/Apex Academies) played a big hand in the comeback and finished with a career-high 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field, highlighted by making 8-of-17 three-point jumpers.

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 0-7 on the season while the Lions even their record at 4-4.

Wagner led 13-9 on a layup by freshman forward Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ/ St. Augustine Prep) with 14:42 left in the first half before Columbia responded with a 15-0 run over the next 5:53, capped by a jumper by Niko Scott, in racing out to a 24-13 lead. The Seahawks answered with a three-pointer by Martin with 8:21 left in the half to cut the deficit to 24-16 but the hot-shooting Lions extended their lead to 54-29 at halftime.

Columbia's biggest lead was 27 at 58-31 with 17:40 left to play in the game. Wagner still trailed by a wide margin at 78-58 with 8:12 to go following a Brian Grimes layup. The feisty, scrappy Seahawks, however, battled back, embarking on a 23-12 run to draw to within nine points at 90-81 on a layup by freshman guard Ryan Conrad (Charlotte, NC/Providence Day) with 3:30 to play but that is as close as the Seahawks would get.

Thompson poured in a career-high 17 points while Conrad had 14. Senior center Michael Orock (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Wagner shot a more than respectable 44% from three-point range in connecting on 15-of-34 from beyond the arc. Columbia was paced by Noruwa Agho, the nation's leading three-point shooter, who made 4-of-6 trifectas en route to a 30-point evening. Grimes added 17 points for the Lions while Asenso Ampim and John Daniels chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively. 

Wagner is next in action on Saturday, Dec. 12 when the Seahawks travel to Jersey City to meet Saint Peter's College in a 2:00 pm tilt.

NOTES – The 34 points by Martin are the most by a Seahawk since Joey Mundweiler tallied 39 points at Monmouth on Feb. 28, 2009. The 91 points scored by Wagner is the most since the Seahawks scored 91 in that Monmouth game. The 102 points are the most yielded by Wagner since they allowed 101 in a 101-59 loss at Kansas St. on Dec. 29, 2007. In their last two games, Wagner has connected on 45% of its shot from three-point range (28-of-62). The 34-point splurge boosts Martin's season average to a team-best 16.7 points per game.