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Staten Island, NY - Sophomore Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park) knocked down two free throws with just over 28 seconds remaining in breaking an 83-83 tie before senior Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) iced the game with two of his own from the line on the next Seahawk possession, lifting Wagner (2-1) to a thrilling 87-83 win over North Carolina Central (1-2) at the Spiro Sports Center.


The teams combined for 170 points while shooting 49.1 percent (54-110) from the floor, including 48.5 percent (16-33) from beyond the arc and 78.0 percent (46-59) from the line as the game was an offensive shootout from the beginning.

Junior College transfer Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / City College of San Francisco), who came into the game averaging just 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, went off 28 points, on 11-of-15 shooting, with five rebounds while senior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Canada / Eastern Commerce) notched 20 points with five rebounds and was an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor. The two also combined to go 7-of-10 from long range as the Green & White hit on a blistering 47.6 percent (10-21) for the game.

Previous to Ortiz's free throws, the Eagles erased a 10-point deficit to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip at 83-83 with 1:22 to play. Martin had a chance to put Wagner back in front but his three point attempt rimmed out, allowing North Carolina Central a chance to take its first lead of the night. However, it was not to be as Ortiz corralled Dominique Sutton's second missed shot of the possession before drawing a foul on the other end.

After Ortiz drilled his aforementioned free throws, the ball again ended up in Sutton's hands. An athletic 6-5 forward, the Kansas State transfer who started on the Wildcats' 2010 Elite 8 team had a chance to again tie the game for the Eagles. However, with Williams playing outstanding defense, Sutton was unable to get to the paint on this play and was forced to take a fadeaway jumper that was off the mark. The ball caromed out of bounds on the next play and Martin was fouled before draining both of his free throws with six second to play, icing the Wagner's second-straight home-opening win. Click HERE to see the final seconds and subsequent celebration.

In a game of spurts and sweeping momentum swings there were four runs of at least six-straight points in the second half, three of which belonged to the visitors, as the Seahawks couldn't shake the Eagles.

Up four at the break, Wagner ripped off eight-straight points to start the second en route to building what appeared to be a comfortable 12-point lead. Williams started the run with this layup off an offensive rebound before Murray converted this fast break layup, off a pretty pass from Ortiz.  Following a missed layup on the other end, Ortiz corralled the defensive rebound and found Rivers for this nifty layup, extending the lead out to 50-40 while forcing North Carolina Central to use its third timeout of the game. The timeout did little good as Ortiz grabbed another rebound before converting this layup on the other end, making it a 12-point game at the 17:44 mark of the second.

The Seahawks would push the lead out to a game-high 14 on three occasions, the last time on this Williams three pointer, his third of the night, while giving the Green & White a 65-51 lead with 13:11 to play.

North Carolina Central then strung together six-straight points on buckets from Sutton, Emanuel Chapman and Ray Willis to get the lead to single digits at at 65-57 with 11:43 to play. Williams quickly answered with this acrobatic layup before the Eagles scored six-more points in a row in drawing to four at 67-63. As he did all game, Murray provided an answer with this three pointer before draining this triple on the subsequent Wagner possession while pushing the lead back out to eight at 73-65 with 7:06 to go. 

The Seahawks would extend lead back out to 10 at 83-73 with 3:40 to play on this Latif Rivers' (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) three pointer. Sutton, quickly answered with a pair from the line before Willis converted an old-fashioned three-point play. Rivers then had a rare miss at the line and North Carolina Central took advantage with a Ebuka Anyaorah three pointer, cutting the deficit down to just two with 2:23 to go. Following a turnover on the other end,  Willis sank a pair at the other end, tying the game up at 83-83 with 1:22 to play while setting up the aforementioned late-game excitement.

Despite standing just 6-0, Ortiz led all players with 11 caroms while adding 11 points for his first career double-double. The Southern Mississippi transfer also added a game-high six assists with three steals while filling up the stat sheet. Rounding out the top scorers for the Green & White was Rivers (14 points) and Martin (10 points), as Wagner had five double-figure scorers for the first time since an 83-79 overtime loss to Long Island on February 17, 2011.

Sutton led all scorers with 29 points while matching Ortiz with 11 rebounds to go along with five steals over 40 minutes of action. It was his second career double-double against Wagner, after previously going for 21 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-53 Kansas State win over the Seahawks back on December 30, 2008.  Willis, who transferred from Oklahoma, added 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals while Landon Clement (11 points) rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Eagles.

In the first half, the Seahawks opened up the game on a 17-10 run before pushing the lead out to a half-high 13 on two occasions. However, as was the theme of the night North Carolina Central fought and clawed in cutting the lead to 44-40 at the half, thanks to a 15-6 run over the final 4:40.

Wagner shot a season-high 50.9 percent (28-55) from the floor, including 56.0 percent (14-25) in the decisive second half. North Carolina Central, meanwhile, made good on 47.3 percent (26-55) and was 50.0 percent (6-12) from beyond the arc and 86.2 percent (25-29) from the line. The Seahawks won the battle of the battle of the boards (32-29) while using a slight advantage in fastbreak points (11-6) en route to their second win of the season.

The Green & White return to action on Saturday, November 19 at 7:00 pm when Wagner heads to Lafayette to battle the Leopards.

(All Photos By Dave Saffran & Highlight Commentary by Joey Wahler)