BOX SCORE
WAGNER VS. ALABANY GAME HIGHLIGHTS
WAGNER YOUTUBE PAGE

Staten Island, NY - Sophomore Josh Thompson (Richland, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) scored 18 of his career-best 24 points in the second half while fueling a Wagner attack that outscored Albany by 21 points after intermission en route to the program's 1,000th win, a captivating 80-65 victory at the Spiro Sports Center.

With the victory, which snaps a four-game losing streak, the Seahawks improve to 5-7 on the season and the 15-point margin of victory is the largest of the season as nine of their previous 11 games were decided by single-digits. Wagner also finishes up the non-league portion of their schedule with a 4-7 mark after going just 2-11 a year ago. The Great Danes fall 7-8 while assuming their first loss against Northeast Conference (NEC) opposition after previously defeating FDU, CCSU and Mount St. Mary's.

Trailing by six at halftime, the Green & White ripped off a 10-1 run to start the second half and never looked back while outscoring Albany 47-26, highlighted by 18 points from Thompson on 7-of-13 shooting. In the pivotal second half, the Wagner defense forced the Great Danes into 20.8 percent (5-24) shooting, including 14.3 percent (1-7) from long range while dominating the glass to the tune of 26-18. The offense did its part, connecting on 50.0 percent (15-30), including 44.4 percent (4-9) from beyond the arc, while assisting on all but one made field goal.

Freshman Naofall Folahan (Benin Republic (West Africa) / Wilbraham and Monson Academy) got the scoring started with a lay-up off one of Latif Rivers (Fr., Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) game and career-high seven assists. After junior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) snared the rebound on the opposite end, he drilled a pair at the line, drawing to within two at 39-37 with 18:51 to play. After John Puk split a pair to momentarily stop of the Seahawk momentum, junior Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) drlled a three pointer off a pass from Rivers, tying the game up at 40-40. Freshman Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) gave Wagner its first lead of the game with a free throw before Folahan capped the 10-1 run with a lay-up off a pass from Martin, making it 43-40 at the 17:07 mark.

Albany would battled back to tie game at 46-46 with 15:00 to play before Thompson began to take over. The second-year forward began his big second half with a lay-up off a pass from Parker, putting Wagner in front for good at 48-46 before pushing it to four at 50-46 with an alley-oop lay-up on a pass from Martin with 13:21 to play. Following a Great Danes' jumper, sophomore Danny Mundweiler (Overland Park, KS / Olathe East) drained a three pointer to extend the lead out to five at 53-48 at the 12:59 mark of the second half.

Later with the Seahawks still up five, Murray began a 6-0 run with a lay-up off a cross-court pass. Thompson then split a pair at the line before knocking down his first three pointer of the year, extending the lead to 61-50 with just over 10 minutes to play. Albany's Mike Black got the deficit to nine with two free throws before Thompson answered with a lay-up. Senior Cliff Spiller (Pleasantville, NJ / Holy Spirit) then split a pair before converting a lay-up off a pass from Thompson, extending the lead out to 66-52 with just 5:47 to go.

After Black converted two more free throws, Thompson scored five-straight points a on pair of lay-ups and a free throw, to give the Green & White its largest lead of the game at 71-54 with 4:42 to play - highlighted by this lay-up. All told, Wagner outscored the Great Danes 16-4 over 6:38 to break open what was a five-point game with Thompson notching 11 points during the spurt.

Albany would continue to fight before falling by an 80-65 count.

Thompson had a monster game, scoring a game-high 24 points, on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor -highlighted by two rim-rattling dunks, including this one in the first half - while adding seven rebounds and a career-best five assists in 30 minutes off the bench. Murray also hit for double-figures, scoring 17 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, with six rebounds and five assists in 37 minutes.

The Seahawks hit on 47.5 percent (28-59) of its shots, including 33.3 percent (7-21) from beyond the arc, while improving to 5-0, all-time, against the Great Danes. The Green & White, which also handed out a season-best 24 assists, dominated the paint (36-14) while committing just 12 turnovers and forcing 17.

Black (18 points) led three double-digit scorers for the visitors, which connected on just 33.3 percent (15-45), including just 23.7 percent (9-38) after hitting on six of its first seven shots.

Luke Devlin scored 14 points to pace Albany in the first half as the Great Danes took a 39-33 lead into halftime. Black and Tim Ambrose chipped in with nine points apiece in the opening stanza. The Great Danes, who came into the game in last place in free throw shooting in the America East Conference at 61%, hit a robust 87.5 percent (14-16) from the charity stripe in the opening half.

A pair of free throws by Puk gave Albany its biggest lead of the game at 20-10 with 14:53 remaining in the first half. Wagner responded with a 14-4 run to tie the game at 24-24 on a Rivers jumper off a feed from Martin. After Rivers again tied it up at 27-27, the Great Danes closed out the half with a 12-6 spurt in seizing the six-point halftime edge.

Wagner, which is 1-0 in the NEC, returns to league play on Monday, January 3 at 7:00 pm when the Seahawks travel to Hamden, CT to meet Quinnipiac. The Bobcats were voted as the league's preseason favorite in a poll of conference coaches.