March 9, 2008

NEW YORK (AP)--Ryan Litke and Drew Shubik each scored 13 points, leading Sacred Heart to its first Northeast Conference championship game appearance with a 55-49 victory over Wagner on Sunday night.

Sacred Heart (18-13), the tournament's No. 3 seed will host fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's (17-14) for the title Wednesday night. The Mountaineers upset top-seeded Robert Morris 83-65 earlier Sunday.

Shubik added 14 rebounds and Chauncey Hardy had 12 points for the Pioneers, who never trailed but had to withstand a late comeback attempt by the Seahawks (23-8).

Trailing 39-29 after Hardy's layup with 9:48 left in the game, Wagner went on an 18-10 run to close within 49-47 with 4:53 remaining.

The Pioneers then outscored the Seahawks 6-2 the rest of the way, with Litke making a jumper and Shubik and Hardy each making two free throws.

Mark Porter had 13 points to lead the Seahawks, who were behind 26-15 at halftime and as much as 31-15 early in the second half. Jamal Smith added 10 points and Durrell Vinson had 14 rebounds.

Ryon Howard's 3-pointer opened the game and Litke made a pair of 3s as the Pioneers took an 18-4 lead at 10:45.

Smith's layup cut the deficit to 18-9 with 6:36 left. Sacred Heart then hit three straight jumpers, the last by Bryce Brooks with 2:55 remaining, to account for largest of the half 24-9.