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Emmitsburg, MD - Wagner became quickest team to 20 victories in Northeast Conference (NEC) history while clinching a playoff berth in the process, as the Green & White used a tenacious defense in defeating Mount St. Mary's 59-44 at the Knott Center in the first of back-to-back games with the Mountaineers as part of the NEC's annual rivalry week.

LIU Brooklyn, which claimed its 20th win on February 12, 2011 at St. Francis (NY), previously owned the league-record.

The Seahawks improved to 20-4 and 11-2 in the NEC with their fifth-straight victory and have now notched a school-record and NCAA-best matching 11 road victories with their ninth-straight win away from the Spiro Sports Center, which is also a school-record. MSM falls to 6-18 and 4-9 in the NEC in defeat.

Wagner has also now reached 20 victories for just the sixth time in school history and the fourth time in the Division I era (since 1976-1977) with five regular season games to play. For the Seahawks, it is their first time with 20 wins since notching a school-record 23 in the 2007-2008 season and comes just two years after starting 4-20.

Senior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) and junior Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / CC of San Francisco) each scored 14 points, leading the way for the Green & White.

Wagner sprinted out of the gates with a big run for the fifth-straight game as Williams began the scoring with a jumper. Julian Norfleet quickly answered with a layup before Williams started a 10-0 run with a three pointer before Murray followed suit with a triple of his own. Williams then sank his second three pointer and freshman Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) capped the spurt with a free throw, giving the Seahawks a 12-2 lead with 14:20 to play in the opening half.

Mount St. Mary's would close the gap to six on two occasions only to have the Green & White answer each time as the Wagner lead would grow to a half-high 12 at 26-14 at the 5:14 mark of the first half. The Seahawks would go into intermission up 30-19 thanks to forcing a season-high 12 first-half turnovers, as the Green & White held an opponent under 20 points for the first time this year, since February 6, 2010 when Wagner limited the Mountaineers into 19 first-half points

Leading the way in the first half was Murray (11 points) and Williams (10) as the Seahawks converted 5-of-13 (.385) from long range, including draining its first three triples, while forcing the Mount into just 1-of-6 (.167) shooting.

The teams traded baskets over the first five-plus minutes of the second half before the Mountaineers used a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 36-29 with 12:58 to play.

Sophomore Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) stopped the bleeding with a layup while fueling a 5-0 run that was capped by another Parker layup, extending the lead out to 41-29 with 11:04 to play.

MSM again trimmed the deficit to single-digits with a Norfleet three pointer and had a chance to make it a two-possession game, but misfired on three-straight triple attempts before sophomore Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) kick-started an 11-0 run with a pair from the line, while for all intents and purposes putting the game on ice. Murray followed with a three pointer before Rivers, Williams and Ortiz all recorded layups, extending the lead to a game-high 20 at 52-32 with 5:20 to play.

Mount St. Mary's would trim the lead to 12 on two more occasions but would never seriously threaten as the Green & White won going away by a 59-44 score.

Wagner limited the Mountaineers to just 29.0 percent (9-31) after halftime, including just 18.8 percent (3-16) from long range as during league play the Seahawks have forced its 13 NEC opponents to just 20.2 percent (20-99) shooting on three point attempts.

For the game, the Green & White shot 41.1 percent (23-56) from the floor while forcing at least 20 turnovers for the eighth time this season, turning 21 MSM miscues into a 22-12 advantage in points off turnovers.

Rivers narrowly missed double-figures with nine points, but added four rebounds, two assists and two steals while Ortiz recorded seven points, five rebounds and five assists, against just one turnover, in 27 minutes of action.

Norfleet led Mount St. Mary's with game-highs in points (18) and rebounds (7) over 38 minutes.

The teams will lock horns again on Saturday, February 11 at 7:00 pm in the first of three-straight games for Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center.