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Photo by TJ Root

New York, NY –  Despite a late comeback effort, the Wagner College men's basketball team dropped a 70-56 decision to the Columbia University Lions on Tuesday evening at Levien Gymnasium. 
 
With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 0-2 on the young season while the Lions picked up their first win of the season, improving to 1-1.
 
Freshman Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) scored 11 of his team-leading 15 points in the first half as the 6-3 swingman finished the contest shooting 6-of-12 from the field in 29 minutes of action. Senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) and 6-10 sophomore forward Nolan Long (Waterford, CT/South Kent Prep) finished with eight points apiece in the contest. 
 
Five Lions hit for double figures, led by Kyle Castlin, who tallied a game-high 18 points, 13 of which came in the opening half. Castlin shot 6-of-10 from the field while pulling down six rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Chris McComber added 12 points in 31 minutes of action while Cory Osetkowski and Maodo Lo each contributed 11 points. Steve Frankoski, who played for Bashir Mason when the Seahawks' third-year head coach was an assistant at St. Benedict's Prep in New Jersey, netted 10 points off the bench. 
 
After the teams traded baskets during the game's first three minutes, Columbia built and early11-4 lead as Castlin was able to spin off his defender and make a difficult one-handed jumper in the paint. The Seahawks cut  the home team's lead to 11-7 on  a difficult, one-handed inside jumper of their own by Greg Senat (Elmont, NY/Elmont), as the sophomore forward was able to use his 6-8, 240 frame to muscle his way in close. On the ensuing Lion possession, Frankoski dialed up a long three-pointer that again put Columbia up by seven.
 
The Lions then used a 17-7 run in taking their largest lead of the contest, 31-15, with 4:36 left before intermission. Wagner was able to stop the Lion run as Senat once again powered in a layup in traffic.  After junior forward Stedman Allen (Bronx, NY/Labette CC (KS) made one-of-two from the free-throw line, Frankoski sank another three-pointer, extending the lead back to 15, at 33-18, with just over two minutes to go before halftime. Following a 5-0 Seahawk spurt, the Lions' Jeff Cob converted a layup that gave the home team a 35-23 halftime lead.
 
Wagner displayed high energy at the outset of the second half, and when freshman guard JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord) beat his defender with a stutter step which led to a drop-in two, the Seahawks were within eight points at 37-29. Columbia's offense then began to heat up once again, as McComber drained back-to-back three-pointers in pushing the Lions' lead to 43-29 at the 16:54 mark. 
 
The Seahawks answered with a run of their own. After freshman Romone Saunders (Temple Hills, MD/Mt. ZIon Prep) made one-of-two from the free-throw line, freshman guard Aaren Edmead (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) knocked down a long, high-arching three-pointer off a pretty feed from Burton, that cut the Lion deficit to 10, 51-41, midway through the second half.  The 5-10 Edmead, last season's Long Island Player of the year, wasn't finished, as he drilled another three-pointer after Saunders was able to locate him off a screen, making it a 51-44 game with 6:24 remaining. 
 
After Castlin made a pair of free throws at the 5:54 mark, the Seahawks misfired on two chances before fouling Ostkowksi. On the front-end of the a one-and-one chance, Ostkowksi hit the front of the rim and the rebound was corralled by Cooper.  After Castlin was called for a reach-in foul,  Burton calmly sank a deep three off a well-designed set play to bring the Seahawks within six at 53-47,, with 5:03 left. This would be the closest the Seahawks would get, however, as the Lions closed the game on a 17-9 run over the final 3:54 in securing their first win of the season. 
 
For the game, the Seahawks shot a 41.1 percent from the floor (23-of-56) while connecting on 5-of-14 from beyond the arc (35.7%) and outscoring the Lions reserves, 21-18.  Columbia, meanwhile, shot 47.7 percent from the field (21-of-44), while hitting 20-of-23 from the free-throw line (87.0%), owned a 33-28 advantage in the rebounding department, including a 24-16 edge on the defensive glass. 

After spending the first two games away from the Spiro Sports Center, the Seahawks will have their home opener on Thursday, November 20 when they welcome Skyline Conference member, SUNY Old Westbury on Thursday with tip set for 7:00 p.m..

The Wagner-SUNY Old Westbury game will be streamed live, free of charge on necfrontrow.com, the official online digital network of the Northeast Conference.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and Bashir Mason">@BashirMason for news on the third-year coach.