FINAL STATS
Smithfield, RI – Fifth-year senior guard Joey Mundeweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) tallied a game-high 20 points on the strength of six three-pointers and freshman guard Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ/ Apex Academies) added 18 on four three-pointers to lead Wagner to a 72-60 non-conference win over Bryant.
In notching its second straight win, the Seahawks climb back to the .500 mark at 12-12 and remain at 4-9 in the NEC while the Bulldogs fell to 7-18 on the season.
Wagner came out hot at the outset of the game, jumping out to a 10-0 lead, keyed by a pair of Mundweiler three-pointers, before the Bulldogs came storming back on a 20-9 run in taking their first lead of the game at 22-20 with 7:20 left in the opening half. Bryant sophomore guard Adam Parzych led the Bulldog surge with 17 first-half point on the strength of 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Bryant built a 30-25 lead before a Martin three-pointer with three seconds left in the half drew the Seahawks within 33-31 at the intermission.
Bryant opened the second half on a quick 5-0 run to make it 38-31. Following a Wagner timeout, the Seahawks got right back into the game with a 9-0 run on three-pointers by Mundweiler and Martin, a jumper by redshirt sophomore guard T.J. Czeski (Amsterdam, NY/ Amsterdam) and a free throw by fifth-year senior forward Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic).
In a second-half that featured seven lead changes and two ties, Wagner wrested control of the game on a 14-3 run that was triggered by a Mundweiler three-pointer that gave the Seahawks the lead for good at 56-54 with 9:00 left in the game. A three-pointer by redshirt junior guard Doug Elwell (Staten Island, NY/ Monsignor Farrell) extended the lead to 59-54 with 8:23 to play.
With Wagner up 61-56, Wagner went to a full-court press that led to a pair of turnovers and seven consecutive points by Martin that gave the Seahawks a commanding 68-56 lead.
Fifth-year senior guard Justin Drummond (Baltimore, MD/ McDonogh) turned in his second consecutive career-high 10-assist outing to go along with eight points while Elwell delivered an efficient 22-minute outing with eight points, two assists and two rebounds. Senior forward Llew Radford (Newport news, VA/ Heritage) and Smith added six and five points, respectively.
A big key to Wagner's big second-half performance was the defensive play turned in by Mundweiler on Paryzych who was held scoreless over the final 20 minutes. Cecil Gresham led Bryant with 19 points.
Wagner out-shot Bryant 43 percent to 39 percent and held a 42-31 edge in the rebounding department.
The Seahawks renew their quest for a berth in next month's NEC Tournament with a road test at LIU on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
NOTES – Mundweiler's 19 three-point attempts are a Wagner record. The sharp-shooter is now at 283 three-pointers made in his career, tops in Wagner history, tops among active NEC players and fourth all-time in NEC history. Mundweiler moved up to 24th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,165 career points. Martin, who tallied a career-high 20 points vs. Saint Francis (PA) last Saturday, is averaging a team-high 19.5 points over his last two games and a team-best 13.0 points over the last five games. Against Bryant, Wagner set a season high with 12 three-pointers made. The Seahawks equaled their season high of 20 assists (on 25 field goals) and were whistled for just eight personal fouls in the game. The Seahawks' 42 rebounds were one shy of a season high. Wagner finished with an 8-3 record in non-conference play.
