FINAL STATS

Emmitsburg, MD – Jean Cajou scored 10 points over the final 4:31 to help overcome a 22-point outing by Wagner's Joey Mundweiler (Olathe, KS/ Olathe East) as No. 2 seed Mount St. Mary's pulled away for a 72-62 win over the No. 7 seed Seahawks in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday night at Knott Arena. 

With the loss, Wagner saw its season come to an end with a 16-14 record while Mount St. Mary's, the defending NEC champions, improved to 18-11 while advancing to the NEC Tournament semifinals for the third straight season. The loss also snapped the Seahawks' four-game winning streak. 

Mundweiler followed up his NEC-record 11-of-17 three-point outing at Monmouth last Sunday, by shooting 7-of-13 from three-point range, matching the NEC Tournament record for three-pointers in a game. Mundweiler scored 15 of his 22 points in the opening half. Fifth-year senior guard Jamal Smith (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) and fifth-year senior guard Justin Drummond (Baltimore, MD/ Towson Catholic) each added 11 points and four assists in the loss. 

With the score tied at 52-52 with 6:22 left in the game, the Mount reeled off seven straight points to grab a 59-52 lead. The final three points came on a deep Cajou three-pointer with one second remaining on the shot clock at the 4:31 mark. 

Wagner answered with a Mundweiler 30-foot three-pointer despite a strong challenge from Cajou, to cut the deficit to 59-55. After the Mount's Shawn Atupem converted in the lane, Mundweiler hit a free throw followed by a three-pointer by fifth-year senior Justin Drummond a three-pointer to cut the Mount lead to 61-59 with 2:48 left in the game. 

Mount St. Mary's grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds to keep the next possession alive and Cajou was able to knock down a three-pointer from the right corner on a feed from Kelly Beidler for a 64-49 advantage with 1:35 left. Following a Wagner turnover, Cajou was fouled and hit both free throws to make it a 66-59 lead with 1:07 remaining. From there, the Mount hit 4-of-6 at the line and Pierre Brown added a put-back with eight seconds left for the final score of 72-62. 

The Mount won despite shooting 39.3 percent from the field in the game. A 40-30 advantage on the boards and 20-of-26 (.769) shooting at the foul line helped the Mount overcome the poor shooting. The Mount also committed just one turnover in the second half after posting eight miscues in the opening 20 minutes. 

Cajou scored 18 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, hitting 6-of-12 from the field in the game and 3-of-6 from three-point range. Shawn Atupem chipped in 16 points and Beidler added 15 points and seven rebounds to pace the Mount in the victory. Wagner, thanks in large part to Mundweiler's efforts, held Jeremy Goode, the Mount's leading scorer and a First-Team All-NEC choice,, to a season-low five points on 1-of-12 shooting in the game. 

Wagner, behind the sensational shooting of Mundweiler, scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 32-29 lead at the break. Mundweiler hit a three-pointer and Michael Orock a lay-up to tie the game at 29-29 with 42 seconds left in the half. The Mount's Jeremy Goode missed a three-pointer, and Wagner grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball up the floor, and Mundweiler drained a three at the halftime buzzer to give Wagner the lead. 

The Mount will host third-seeded Sacred Heart on Sunday, in the NEC semifinals in a rematch of last year's NEC Championship game won by the Mount, 68-55, at Sacred Heart. Top-seeded Robert Morris will host fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in the other semifinal on Sunday. The NEC championship game will be held on Wednesday, March 11 at the home of the highest-seeded team at 8:00 pm and will be televised live on ESPN2.


NOTES – Mundweiler set the Wagner College single-season record for three-pointers made in a season with 98, bettering the previous mark of 96 set by Dedrick Dye in 2002-203. He also finished his career as Wagner's all-time leader in three-pointers made with 312, which places him in second on the NEC all-time list behind only Tristan Blackwood of Central Connecticut St. He finished 18h on the Seahawk all-time scoring list with 1,281 points. Smith ended his career with 1,260 career points, 20th on the all-time list.