Jan. 14, 2006

Final Stats

STATEN ISLAND, NY - Sophomore Drew Shubik led four Sacred Heart University Pioneers in double figures with a career-best 17 points to help his team defeat Wagner College 70-62 in a Northeast Conference men's basketball game Saturday night. The win was the first time Sacred Heart had defeated Wagner in the Spiro Center, and snapped a nine-game home winning streak for the Seahawks.

Sacred Heart, 7-8 overall and 4-2 in the Northeast Conference, trailed by one at the intermission 35-34, despite the fact that the two leading Pioneer scorers, Kibwe Trim and Jarrid Frye, sat most of the half with foul trouble. Sacred Heart used a 14-5 run in the final 6:15 to get back within the point, after Wagner had opened up a 30-20 lead on a Matt Vitale layup. Durrell Vinson led the Seahawks in the period with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Pioneers used a 12-2 run at the start of the second half to take a 46-37 lead - a lead they would hold for the remainder of the game. Shubik canned a pair of treys in the Pioneer run.

A Vinson layup with 7:42 to play had the Seahawks back within one at 52-50, but sophomore Luke Granato hit a short jumper to put the Pioneers back up four. An old-fashioned three-point play by Jason Rudakas for Wagner with 4:54 to go cut the SHU lead to a slim 56-55.

The Pioneers scored the next six points, four of them by Trim on a layup and a pair of free throws. A dunk by Trim with 2:05 left and then a pair of threes by Frye in the final 1:14 put the Seahawks away.

"We were trying to hold the ball and run the clock down. I got the look at the first three and felt comfortable with it so I took it," said Frye. "I felt even more comfortable with the second one after hitting the first."

Trim and Frye finished with ten points apiece, while sophomore forward Brice Brooks also chipped in with a season-high ten of his own. Sacred Heart out rebounded Wagner, who had led the NEC in that category, 33-30.

Wagner, 8-5 and 1-3 in the NEC, got 12 from DeEarnest McLemore, in addition to the 19 by Vinson.

The Pioneers will be in action again on Thursday night at home against NEC leader Robert Morris University at 7:00 p.m.