Staten Island, N.Y. (February 19, 2009)—Wagner held off Mount St. Mary's, 70-65, in Northeast Conference action on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center. The Seahawks outscored the Mount 7-2 over the final two minutes to earn the victory.

The Mount's Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to even the score at 63-63 with 2:02 left in the contest. On the ensuing possession, the Mount forced a miss, but Wagner's Llewchean Radford scrambled for rebound and converted the bucket for a two-point advantage with 1:16 on the clock.

With the loss, the Mount (16-11, 11-5 NEC) is now one-half game ahead of Long Island for second place in the Northeast Conference standings.

The Mount turned the ball over on the next possession, and T.J. Czeski converted two at the line for a four-point lead with 58 seconds on the clock. Shawn Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) answered with a bucket in the paint with 47 seconds on the clock. The Mount fouled Jamal Smith with 18 seconds and he hit 1-of-2 for a 68-65 lead.

Wagner had three fouls to give and used them all to give the Mount the ball under the basket with eight seconds on the clock. The inbounds pass, however, was off the mark and the Mount was forced to foul Justin Drummond with six seconds on the clock. Drummond missed the one-on-one, but got his own rebound, was fouled, and hit two free throws with two seconds left to seal the victory.

Drummond scored 23 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists to pace Wagner (13-13, 5-10 NEC) in the win. The Seahawks were fighting to stay alive in the NEC playoff race. Joey Mundweiler added 12 points in the victory.

The Mount was paced by Shawn Atupem's 15 points and six boards. Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) and Cajou each had 14 points and Sam Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) chipped in 11 points in the loss.

Wagner shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) in the game and scored 25 points off 14 Mount turnovers. The Mount converted 47.2 percent and was outrebounded 31-to-27.

In the first half, Wagner grabbed a 22-16 advantage after a Drummond jumper with 10:00 left in the first half. The Mountaineers responded with a 15-to-4 run to grab a 31-26 advantage. Cajou scored eight points during the run, including a pair of three-pointers, including one to cap the run for the five-point lead with 5:32 on the clock.

The Seahawks answered the Mount's run with a 10-2 run of its own to grab a 36-33 lead with 2:14 left in the half. Drummond scored seven points in the streak and capped the run with a three-point basket. The Mount's Shawn Atupem scored on a putback to make the score 36-35 at the break.

Wagner shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the field in the first half, but hit 5-of-9 (.556) from three-point range while committing just two turnovers. The Mount shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from the floor in the opening half.

Game Notes...Wagner holds a 26-13 lead in the all-time series...This was the fourth time this season that the Atupem brothers, Shawn and Sam, each scored double figures in the same game.