Jan. 5, 2008

Final Stats

FAIRFIELD, CT - Senior Durell Vinson led all scorers with 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead visiting Wagner College to a 70-63 Northeast Conference win over Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon.

Wagner jumped out to an early edge, but the Pioneers led the game 23-17 with 5:04 to go in the first half after a Chauncey Hardy layup. The Seahawks erased the deficit with a 7-0 run, capped by a Vinson layup, to take a 24-23 lead just over a minute later.

Sophomore Ryan Litke tied the game at 32-32 with a three with :09 left, but Wagner took a 34-32 lead in the locker room thanks to a layup by Vinson at the buzzer.

Sacred Heart shot 41 percent in the half, but just four of 14 from three-point range. Litke and sophomore Corey Hassan had the Pioneer treys. Vinson finished the half with 13 points for Wagner to lead all scorers.

Hardy tied the game with a layup in the first minute of the second half for SHU, but Wagner took control after that and a James Ulrich layup with 12:32 left in the half gave the Seahawks their biggest lead of the game at 49-40.

Sacred Heart, now 5-9 overall and 2-1 in the NEC, used a 7-0 run in the next two minutes, finished off by a Corey Hassan trey, to close within a bucket. Litke gave the Pioneers a 55-54 lead with a layup with 6:32 left in the game, and they extended it with a pair of free throws by senior Gene Pettway.

Vinson tied the game on the next Wagner possession on a dunk that turned into a three-point play when he was fouled by Ryon Howard. A missed Litke three on the next Pioneer possession, answered by a three from Wagner's Justin Drummond, gave the Seahawks the lead back for good at 60-57.

Two more Pettway free throws had the Pioneers within a point at 62-61, but Drummond quickly answered with a dunk of a lob pass by senior Mark Porter with 2:13 to play. Porter finished the game with nine assists.

SHU had a chance to cut into the lead again with 1:50 to play, but Howard missed a pair of free throws. The teams traded turnovers and senior Drew Shubik was fouled by Ulrich with :13 left. He made both tries to cut the Wagner lead to 64-63. The Pioneers were forced to foul Porter on the inbound pass and the senior buried both to make it 66-63.

SHU had one last gasp, but Hassan missed a three with :06 left and Vinson grabbed the rebound to put the Pioneers away.

Hassan led the SHU attack with 13 points, while senior Brice Brooks had 12. Howard led the Pioneer rebounders with eight, but SHU was outboarded 42-28.

Wagner improved to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the conference.