BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. (Jan. 26, 2013) – Wagner shot lights-out in the second half to hold off a late Saint Francis charge and drop the Red Flash, 81-56, in Northeast Conference men's basketball action at DeGol Arena on Saturday.

Jonathon Williams had 19 points and eight rebounds for the Seahawks which shot 57.6 percent (34 of 59) and held Saint Francis to 35.7 percent (20 of 56).  Wagner also won the battle on the boards 35-25.

“I was certainly disappointed with this one because I thought it was the first time where, for 40 minutes, we didn't respond,” said Flash coach Rob Krimmel.  “We were able to respond in stretches but that's not enough.”

From an 18-10 advantage with 8:48 left in the first half Wagner seized momentum, outscoring Saint Francis 12-2 to lead 30-12 with 4:57 remaining.  The Red Flash, which trailed 26-22 at the intermission, cut its deficit to 12 points (51-39) with 11:08 to play with a 15-3 run.

A Dominique Major (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) 3-pointer made the score 59-49 with 7:11 to play but SFU could pull no closer.

Sophomore Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) and freshman Ben Millaud-Meunier (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier) each scored 12 points to lead the short-handed Flash, who were without the services of starters Umar Shannon (Atlantic City, N.J./Atlantic City) and Stephon Mosley (Harlem, N.Y./Seton Hall Prep) for the second consecutive contest.

“We were getting a chemistry with a group of guys and they were starting to play really, really well,” said Krimmel.  “You take two starters out of the lineup and insert some guys into different roles – it broke a little bit of our rhythm.”

Saint Francis returns to action on Thursday when it visits LIU Brooklyn for a 7 p.m. game.