BOX SCORE

Emmitsburg, MD - After falling behind by 11 to start the second half, Wagner rallied to tie the game on two occasions before Mount St. Mary's pulled away late en route to a 71-57 victory at Knott Arena. Freshman Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) led the Seahawks in scoring for the seventh time this year with 16 points while adding four rebounds and three assists.

The Green & White are now 12-12 on the year and 8-5 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while the Mountaineers improve to 10-16 and 8-5 in the NEC. The teams will play again on Saturday, February 12 at 7:00 pm as part of the league's annual Rivalry Week, which pits the travel partners against each twice in four days.

Trailing by 11 following David Golladay's lay-up to start the second half, junior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) hit his first three of the game while snapping an 0-for-14 skid from beyond the arc. Rivers then stole the inbounds pass before draining a pair at the line before classmate Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) then cut the deficit to four at 34-30 with a tip-in at the 16:37 of the second half, capping a 7-0 run.

Julian Norfleet answered with an old-fashioned three-point before Jean Cajou stole the ball and dunked it, extending the lead back out to nine at 39-30 with 15:31 to play. Never say die Wagner rallied with a 12-3 run over the next 4:18, tying the game up at 42-42 with 9:51 to play. Four different Seahawks scored during the spurt, highlighted by a pair of Parker buckets.

The teams then traded field goals before Shawn Atupem put Mount St. Mary's up 46-44 with 8:40 to play with a jumper before junior Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) cut the lead to one with a free throw before missing the second as that would be the Green & White's last chance to tie the game on the night.

Josh Castellanos responded with a three pointer on the other end while sparking a 7-2 spurt, extending the lead back out to six at 53-47 with 6:02 to play. With 3:47 to play and still up six, the Mountaineers closed out the game on a 13-5 run while providing the final 71-57 tally.

Wagner shot just 34.0 percent (18-53) for the game, including 25.0 percent (5-20) from beyond the arc and are now 12-of-50 (24.0 %) from outside the arc over the last two games. The Seahawks did manage to convert on 80.0 percent (16-20) from the line, marking the 13th time the Green & White have drained at least 80.0 percent from the line this season.

Joining Rivers in double-figures was Murray (13 points) and Parker (12 points), who bounced back with double-digits for the 10th time this year after notching just six points on 3-of-13 shooting in the two previous games. Thompson had another strong game off the bench, ripping down a game-high seven rebounds with three assists.

Mount St. Mary's shot 55.8 percent (24-43) from the floor, fueled by a 68.8 percent (11-16) conversion rate in the opening half, while hitting on 54.5 percent (6-11) from beyond the arc and 77.3 percent (17-22) from the line. Atupem led four double-digit scorers for the Mountaineers with 16 points, knocking down 6-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line, with a game-best matching seven rebounds. Norfleet added 14 points while Cajou (13 points) and Castellanos (12 points, 7 assists) rounded out the double-figure scorers.

In the first half, Mount St. Mary's assumed the early advantage at 6-2 before Wagner ripped off a 10-1 run, taking a 12-7 lead with 9:40 to go in the opening stanza. The Mountaineers immediately answered with 12-straight points en route to a 17-2 run over 5:04 in taking a 24-14 lead at the 4:12 mark of the first half. As he has done all year, Rivers, who has six Choice Hotels NEC Rookie of the Week citations, stepped up and stopped the bleeding with a four-point play on the ensuing possession. The rookie guard drilled a three pointer while drawing the foul before hitting the free throw and sparked a 9-3 run that cut the Mountaineers lead to four at 27-23. Mount St. Mary's responded with five-straight points to close the half and took a 32-23 lead into intermission.

NOTES: Today's game marked just the fifth time that Wagner failed to make more triples than the opposition with the Seahawks going 0-5 during that time ... The 13 offensive rebounds match a season-high and give the Green & White double-digits on the offensive glass in four of the last six after corralling double-figures just three times over the first 18 games ... Wagner has now lost four-straight games to Mount St. Mary's and five-of-six, but lead the all-time series by a 26-17 count ... Elsewhere in the league, LIU and CCSU each won with the Blackbirds maintaining a slim one-game lead over the Blue Devils and a three-game margin over Wagner, Mount St. Mary's and Quinnipiac - all of whom are tied at 8-5 for third place in the league ... The Seahawks' bench matched a season-low of four points, previously attained at Texas A&M ... In the subsequent game, an 80-65 win over Albany, the Green & White reserves notched a season-best 35 points ... Wagner falls to 2-6 in games decided by 10 points or more ... The Seahawks also committed fewer fouls then the opposition for the second time this year.