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Staten Island, NY - Wagner overcame an 11-point second half deficit to take the lead with under a minute to play before Sacred Heart answered with the final five points en route to a 79-76 victory at the Spiro Sports Center. In defeat, the Seahawks fall to 9-10 and 5-3 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Pioneers improve to 8-11 and 3-5 in the league.

After junior guard Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) gave Wagner its first lead of the game since early in the first half at 76-74 with this three pointer, Sacred Heart sophomore Shane Gibson converted and old-fashioned three-point play with just 39 seconds to play, making it a 77-76 game. Murray then missed a floater in the lane and senior Jerrell Thompson converted a pair from the line, extending the lead out to 79-76 with just 23 seconds to play.

On the enusing possession, sophomore Danny Mundweiler (Overland Park, KS / Olathe East) missed a runner and senior Cliff Spiller (Pleasantville, NJ / Holy Spirit) corralled the loose ball, before head coach Dan Hurley called timeout with just 4.7 seconds remaining. On the inbounds play, senior #T.J. Czeski#'s (Amsterdam, NY / Amsterdam) passed it in to Mundweiler before getting it back and firing a three-point attempt from the far left corner that bounced painstakingly off the side rim as time expired, allowing Sacred Heart to escape wtih the 79-76 win.

Up six at the half, the Pioneers extended their lead out to 11 on a pair of occasions the last of which gave Sacred Heart what appered to be an insurmountable 64-53 margin with 6:21 to play. Wagner then ripped off a frentic 23-10 run over the next 5:35 as the Green & White scored on 10-straight possesions, including hitting six-straight shots, capped by Murray's three pointer that made it 76-74 Seahawks with just 46 seconds to play.

In the second half, the Green & White hit on 83.3 percent (15-18) from the line while outscoring the Pioneeres 13-2 in points off turnovers. Unfortunately for Wagner, Sacred Heart connected 52.2 percent (12-23) from the floor in the decisive half, including 88.9 percent (16-18) from the charity stripe.

For the game, the Pioneers made good on 44.7 percent (21-47) from the floor, including 43.8 percent (7-16) from long range and a blistering 88.2 percent (30-34) from the line while winning the battle of the boards by a 32-26 count. The Seahawks shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the floor, but just 36.0 percent (9-25) from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent (17-22) from the line.

Junior Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) scored 15 of his team-best 21 points in the second half, on 6-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, leading four double-digit scorers for the Green & White. Rivers notched 13 of his 19 points in the second half, while going 6-of-13 from the floor in recording double-figures for the 12th time this year. Murray added 13 points and five rebounds while freshman Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) chipped in with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds and has now recorded double-figures four-straight times.

Gibson scored his 34 points on 12-of-15 shooting, including going 9-of-10 after halftime, and was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the line while adding five rebounds. Thompson had 13 points and six rebounds while Stan Dulaire (12 points) and Chris Evans (10 points) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Pioneers, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

In the first half, Wagner scored the first five points of the game and led 10-7 with14:51 to play until halftime following a Parker tip-in. Sacred Heart then ripped off 12-straight points in assuming a 19-10 lead at the 9:57 mark of the first. The Pioneers extended the lead to a game-high 13 at 33-20 at the 1:33 mark of the opening stanza. The Seahawks responded with a half-ending 10-3 run, capped by this fantastic buzzer-beating lay-up by sophomore Josh Thompson off a half-court heave from Murray.

Wagner returns to action on Thursday, January 27 at Bryant with tip-time slated for 7:00 pm. It will be the only meeting of the year between the Seahawks and the Bulldogs.