STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  (Jan. 8, 2011) – Wagner made 12 three-pointers and took advantage of 26 Saint Francis turnovers to hand the Red Flash men's basketball team an 81-53 defeat on Saturday night at the Spiro Sports Center.

 

Will Felder (Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East Hs) had a team-high 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks, while freshman Kameron Ritter had a career-high 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

 

Tyler Murray had a game-high 20 points for the Seahawks, while Latif Rivers had 15 points and 5 assists, and Josh Thompson added 15 points and 3 blocks.

 

Saint Francis (2-13, 0-4 NEC) will return to DeGol Arena for the first time in nearly a month when it plays host to Monmouth at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. The Red Flash have played just three of their first 15 games on their home court.

 

“I thought we fought hard and did some really good things in the first half,” said Saint Francis head coach Don Friday. “But we never got into a rhythm in the second half, and Wagner is a good basketball team. We're not playing good basketball right now. We need to find a way to get back in this NEC race as we head home.”

 

The Seahawks turned a 12-point halftime lead into an 18-point advantage on a Murray 3-pointer to make it 49-31 with 15:32 remaining. Felder hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 51-38 with 12:21 left, but Wagner held the Red Flash without a field goal for the next 5:03 as it went on a 17-3 run to take a 68-41 lead with 7:15 to go.

 

Saint Francis shot 47.5 percent from the field (19-of-40), but struggled from beyond the arc (2-of-9) and at the free throw line (13-of-21). The Seahawks shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56), including 12-of-21 (.571) from outside the arc. They also made 11-of-13 free throw attempts (.846).

 

Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) finished with 8 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, and senior Mislav Jukic (Zagreb, Crotia/Life Center Acadamy) had 6 points and 4 rebounds.

 

Murray hit a 3-pointer with just 2.1 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Seahawks a 12-point lead, 38-26, going into the break. The Northeast Conference's leading scorer paced all players with 13 points in the first half.

 

Chris Johnson (Newport News, Va./Denbigh) led the Red Flash with 6 points, 2 assists and 2 steals, and Ritter had 5 points, 1 block and 1 steal.

 

Saint Francis had 13 turnovers at the break, and the Seahawks converted them into 19 points. SFU shot 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the field, and Wagner fired at a 48.1 percent clip (13-of-27).

 

For periodic men's basketball updates on Twitter, follow Director of Athletic Communications Bob Volkert at SFUVolkert.