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Post-Game Interview – Junior forward Mike Aaman (with Joey Wahler)

Post-Game Recap (Cormac Gordon; (Staten Island Advance)

Sacred Heart vs. Wagner (Highlights)
 
Staten Island, NY – The Wagner College men's basketball team secured a pivotal Northeast Conference (NEC) victory, pulling away by a count of 75-64 at the Spiro Sports Center on Thursday evening.  
 
In notching their third win in the last five games, the Seahawks improve to 5-4 in the NEC and 7-13 on the season, while the Pioneers, who were coming off of an impressive 83-66 victory at Bryant, fall to 3-6 in league play and 9-13 overall.. 

Senior guard and reigning NEC Player of the Week, Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/ David W. Butler), inched closer to becoming the 42^nd member of the Wagner 1,000 point club, as he netted 26 points, including a stretch in which he connected on 10 straight points.  He is now up to 979 career points and needs just 21 points to reach the milestone.
 
A pair of freshmen guards, Corey Henson (Upper Marlboro, MD/DeMatha Catholic) and JoJo Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Concord), scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, with Cooper pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out a team-best four assists.

Junior forward Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Hazlet (Rhode Island)), who last played at Cincinnati back on December 23, made his presence felt, scoring nine points and grabbing a team-leading 14 caroms in 19 minutes of action.

Three Pioneers finished the contest in double figures, led by NEC Co-Rookie of the Week, Cane Broome, who tallied 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting in 31 minutes of action. Evan Kelley and Steve Glowiak added 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Tevin Falzon, who posted a double-double in his last outing at Bryant, was held to just three points and five boards.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 16-11 lead after Glowiak was able to spot De'Von Barnett slashing into the lane for a layup chance. Wagner responded with a 13-4 run over a six-minute interval that saw the home team take a 24-20 lead with 5:16 left in the opening stanza. The Seahawks went 5-of-8 from the field during the run, while holding the Pioneers to 0-of-5 shooting and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc.

In a half that featured several momentum swings, Sacred Heart concluded the first half of play on a 13-6 run that gave the visitors a 33-30 advantage heading into the halftime break, while limiting Wagner to just 2-of-7 shooting from the field during this final 5:15 of the stanza. Sacred Heart took its largest lead of the contest, at 39-33, with 16:44 left after Jordan Allen muscle in for two on a closely-guarded layup. 

The Seahawks began to mount their comeback as Cooper converted back-to-back three-pointers, 40 seconds apart, to give the Green & White their first lead since the 2:30 mark of the first half when junior forward Stedman Allen (Bronx, NY/Labette CC) sank two free-throw attempts.  After Broome tied the game at 45-45 with a layup off a feed from Gaetano, Burton ignited the spark that carried the Seahawks to victory. The fourth-year guard, is now averaging 24.8 points per game since being held to eight points in the NEC opener at Saint Francis U back on January 3. Burton got things started by drilling a three-pointer from the top-of-the key, followed by a corner jumper, extending the lead to 51-45 before Falzon hit two freebies to stop the run.

Burton was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field while Broome was the lone Pioneer to make an attempt off a layup.  
 
Wagner closed the game by out-scoring the Pioneers, 24-17, while holding Sacred Heart to just 5-of-13 shooting down the stretch in notching its sixth home victory of the season. The Seahawks also held a commanding 45-36 edge on the glass, including 13-8 on the offensive side while recording 20 second-chance points.

The Seahawks will look to avenge last weekend's heart-breaker as they welcome the Central Connecticut Blue Devils to the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday for a 4:00 pm tip-off. 

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