STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2008) – The Saint Francis men's basketball team had a chance at the buzzer, but the team's 3-point attempt hit the back of the rim as Wagner escaped with a 60-59 victory to remain unbeaten in Northeast Conference play.

Redshirt junior Bassirou Dieng (Dakar, Senegal /Riverdale Baptist) (Dakar, Senegal / Riverdale Baptist) recorded his third double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 13 points, 11 rebounds, a career high 3 steals and 1 block. Redshirt junior Cale Nelson (Newville, PA /Big Spring) (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring) finished with 17 points and 6 assists, and redshirt sophomore Devin Sweetney (Washington, DC /Riverdale Baptist) (Washington, D.C. / Riverdale Baptist) added 11 points, 7 rebounds and a season high 3 assists.

Mark Porter led Wagner (12-4, 5-0) with 15 points, while Durell Vinson had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Vinson was held below his season averages in both categories.

Defense and rebounding gave the Red Flash a chance in the second half. They held a 17-9 advantage in rebounds in the final 20 minutes, and held the Seahawks to just 26 second half points on 36.4 percent shooting from the field.

“We made smart plays down the stretch,” said Saint Francis head coach Bobby Jones. “In the first half, we could have boxed out a little better. I thought we played well in the second half. I thought we controlled the tempo. We kept our composure. I'm really not sure we can play better. Grant Surprenant (Palatine, IL /Palatine) made a nice pass to Cale at the end, and the shot would have counted. At some point, we have to get a break. We played as well as we can possibly play. We played the best team in the league in my opinion. I'm proud of the effort. I feel bad for the team. If we play the way we played today, we'll get our breaks from here on out.”

The Red Flash had a chance at the buzzer despite committing a costly turnover with six seconds to go. Vinson missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with four seconds remaining, and junior Grant Surprenant (Palatine, IL /Palatine) (Palatine, Ill. / Palatine) came down with the rebound. Surprenant got the ball back for a 3-point attempt, but was double teamed and found Nelson with an open look, but Nelson's attempt hit the back of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Wagner had a five-point lead, 57-52, with 2:12 remaining, but the Red Flash buckled down with great defense. Sweetney cut it to two with a big 3-pointer with 1:56 on the clock. Dieng then came up with a huge steal and got the outlet pass to Nelson, who found a streaking Sweetney for a layup to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:35 remaining. Saint Francis called a timeout to set up its defense, but Justin Drummond came out of the break to hit his first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer, to give Wagner a 60-57 lead with 1:06 remaining. Drummond had made just 2-of-11 three-point attempts on the season.

Nelson came back down the other end and was fouled with 41 seconds on the clock, and sunk both ends of his one-and-one to give Saint Francis a chance with a 60-59 deficit. Wagner missed a jumper with 12 seconds to go and junior Chris Berry (Seagoville, TX/Seagoville) (Seagoville, Texas / Seagoville) came down with the defensive rebound, but the Red Flash turned the ball over trying to inbound the ball after another timeout, setting Vinson up with his one-and-one opportunity.

Nelson led the Red Flash with 11 points in the first half. He gave the team a spark in the first half of the frame by hitting three of his first four shots from long range. Dieng added 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in the half.

Berry finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, and junior Steve Profeta (Carnegie, PA /Chartiers Valley ) (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) added 6 points and 2 rebounds.