BOX SCORE

Staten Island, NY - Freshman Naofall Folahan (Benin Republic (West Africa) / Wilbraham and Monson Academy (MA)) powered his way to a career-high 19 points while blocking seven shots and grabbing a team-high five rebounds as Princeton defeated Wagner 69-57 in non-conference action at the Spiro Sports Center. Folahan's seven rejections are the second-most in school history as Miladin Mutavdzic notched eight blocks against Fairleigh Dickinson on February 29, 1992.

Folahan, who entered the game with just 22 points over the first nine games, notched 13 of his career-high 19 points in the first half while shooting 6-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line with seven blocks and five rebounds over a career-best 31 minutes of action.

The Tigers improve to 8-3 with their sixth-straight win while the Seahawks fall to 4-6 with their third-straight loss and the fifth-straight setback against Ivy League competition.

Up 12 at the break, Princeton scored the first six-straight points after intermission, taking its largest lead of the game at 42-24 with 18:21 to play before a Latif Rivers (Fr. Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) lay-up put Wagner on the board in the second half.

Later in the half with the Tigers up 17 at 58-41 at the 7:42 mark, the ever-resilient Green & White finally got something going. Rivers ignited an 8-0 run with an off-balance lay-up before Folahan followed with an old-fashioned three-point play, highlighted by a lay-up of his own off a nice pass from sophomore Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ / St. Augustine Prep). Then after forcing a turnover junior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) drained his second three pointer of the night to slice the deficit to nine at 58-49 with 5:56 to play.

That would be as close as Wagner would get it as Ian Hummer scored off a timeout, igniting a 7-0 run that extended the lead back out to 16 at 65-49 with just 3:04 to play. The Seahawks would continue to fight, cutting the lead to 10 befor falling 69-57.

Kareem Maddox scored a game-high 23 points, on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and 7-of-7 shooting from the line, off the bench pacing four double-digit scorers for Princeton, which shot 54.3 percent (25-46), including 64.7 percent (11-17) in the second half, against the NEC's top field-goal percentage defense entering the game. The Tigers also won the battle of the glass by a 32-23 count.

Wagner hit on just 38.6 percent (17-44), including 28.6 percent (2-7) from outside the arc, but did convert on 84.0 percent (21-25) from the free throw line. Joining Folahan (19 points) in double-digits was Rivers, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half and Murray, who had 11 points.

The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair in the early going with Princeton taking the early 7-5 lead only to have Folahan deliver a two-hand jam, tying the game up at 7-7. Down two, Wagner went on a 6-0 run while assuming its leagest lead of the gam at 15-11 with 11:38 to play. Junior Chris Martin (Sickerlerville, NJ / Apex Academies) had a nifty fast-break lay-up off a steal on the play to help fuel the spurt.

The Tigers then broke off a game-changing 24-5 run over the next 8:47, turning a four-point deficit into a 35-20 lead with 2:51 to go until halftime. In the spurt, Princeton hit on 10-of-17 from the floor while forcing the Seahawks into six turnovers and 2-of-8 shooting en route to a 36-24 lead at intermisson.

Wagner returns to action on Tuesday, December 21 at 8:00 pm (EST) as the Seahawks head to College Station, Texas to square off with Texas A&M out of the Big 12 Conference. The Green & White will be aiming for its first-ever win against the BCS Conference while avenging five prior defeats.

The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southwest except in the Dallas Stars market and will be picked up by ESPN Full Court.



Click HERE for all Wagner YouTube Videos of tonight's game