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Brooklyn, NY - Wagner shot a blistering 59.9 percent from the floor and a Northeast Conference (NEC) record 90.0 percent from long range in snapping LIU Brooklyn's 31-game winning streak at the Wellness Recreation and Athletic Center (WRAC) with a 86-75 victory. The Seahawks, which entered tonight's game with the lowest 3-point percentage (.282) in the league, converted on 9-of-10 from long range in breaking the previous record of 88.9 percent (8-of-9) set by Marist against St. Francis Brooklyn on February 21, 1991.

Junior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) led the way with a game-high 20 points while classmate Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park / Southern Mississippi) notched his third career double-double with 19 points and a personal-best 11 assists. Sophomore Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) rounded out the double-digit performers for Wagner with a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds.

The Seahawks, which have now won four-straight and seven of their last eight, improve to 9-5 and 3-0 in the NEC while the Blackbirds fall to 5-10 and 0-3 in the league.

Setting the tone for its best shooting performance in over four years, the Green & White opened the game by hitting its first three shots and 8-of-10 in taking a 17-13 lead with 12:50 to play in the opening period following a Moody jumper. LIU Brooklyn quickly wrestled the lead back with nine-straight points in assuming a 22-17 lead with 9:18 remaining.

Later in the half with the Blackbirds holding a 27-23 lead, Moody hit a layup, before converting a pair from the line while forcing Jamal Olasewere to the bench with his second foul at the 5:34-mark of the half. After E.J. Reed reclaimed the lead for LIU Brooklyn at 29-27 with a layup, Wagner ripped off 10-straight points en route to a half-ending and game-changing 15-2 run. Rivers gave the Seahawks the lead for good with a three pointer, before converting a fast-break layup. After Moody grabbed the rebound on the ensuing possession, the Garden State native slammed home an Orlando Parker (Jr., Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) pass on the other end, before Ortiz capped the 10-0 spurt with a three pointer to lead out to 37-29 with 1:59 remaining.

Gerrell Martin finally stopped the bleeding with a pair from the line, before Ortiz converted another three pointer and Park a layup to stake the Green & White to an insurmountable 42-31 halftime lead.

With the lead still at 12 early in the second half, LIU Brooklyn scored eight-straight points to trim the Wagner advantage to 47-43 with 15:32 remaining in the game. The Blackbirds then had a pair of chances to further dent the lead, but would come up short each time as Rivers answered with a free throw and Parker a layup to push lead out to 50-43. Following a Reed layup, Rivers hit a deep three pointer from the top of the key to start another 10-0 Seahawk run that would extend the lead out to 60-45 with 10:37 remaining and for all intents and purposes put an end to the preseason NEC Champions' 31-game WRAC winning streak.

LIU Brooklyn, however, would continue to fight and trimmed lead to single-digits on four more occasions, only to see Wagner answer each time en route to picking up its first win over the Blackbirds since recording a 65-59 victory on January 21, 2010.

Wagner, which had lost four-straight and seven-of-eight to the two-time defending NEC Champions, will now look to improve to 4-0 in the conference for the first time since the 2010-2011 season at home against St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, January 12 at 4:00 pm.

The Seahawks' 59.2 percent (29-for-49) shooting performance was their best since converting on 60.4 percent (29-for-48) against Yale on December 6, 2008. The Green & White also won the battle of the boards (37-24) for the 12th time in 14 games.

Olasewere paced four double-figure scorers for the Blackbirds with 16 points to go along with nine rebounds.

NOTES:
* Rivers has now notched at least 20 points in a game 11 times in his career with Wagner going 10-1 in those games ... He also now has 926 points and is just 74 away from becoming the 40th member of the school's 1,000-point club.

* Ortiz's 11 assists were the most by a Seahawk since Mark Porter handed out 13 against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on December 15, 2007.

* Ortiz converted both of his three-point attempts and is now 5-for-6 over this last three games, after going 0-for-12 in his first 42 games as a member of the Green & White.

* Playing against one of the top point guards in the NEC in Jason Brickman, Ortiz handed out 11 assists, against just three turnovers, after registering just one assist and six turnovers in two games against LIU Brooklyn a year ago.

* Wagner improves to a perfect 8-0 when leading with five minutes to play and are 33-1 since the start of last season

* The Seahawks are also now 7-0 this year and 26-3 over the last two seasons when shooting better than the opposition.

* Wagner scored a season-high 86 points and are 2-0 this year when notching at least 70 and 21-1 over the last two seasons.

* Over his last four games, Ortiz is averaging 18.5 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 58.3 percent (21-for-36), 83.3 percent (5-for-6) and and 75.0 percent (27-for-36) from the line.

* Also during that time, Moody is averaging 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting 51.4 percent (18-for-35) from the floor and 70.0 percent (14-for-20) from the line.

* Since the start of last season, the Seahawks are 11-1 on Thursdays and 10-1 in January.

* Junior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) added six points, five rebounds and three blocks. His three rejections give him 127 while breaking a tie with 2003 NEC Player of the Year Jermaine Hall for the third-most blocks in school history.

* Narrowly missing double-figures for the first time this season were Parker and senior Josh Thompson (Bridgeton, NJ / St. Augustine Prep). Parker chipped in with nine points and five rebounds while Thompson added seven points and five rebounds.

* Freshman Eric Fanning (Trenton, NJ / Perkiomen (PA)) scored all six of his points after halftime and over the last four games has scored 24 of his 27 points after intermission.

* Wagner ripped off a 15-2 run in the first half and a 13-2 spurt in the second half, each of which included 10-straight points.

* The Seahawks posted their fourth double-digit victory over the year after notching 17 a year ago.

* The Green & White also matched their season-best mark of +13 on the glass, set in the last game against Fairleigh Dickinson while the 24 rebounds allowed also matched a season-low (Albany - 11/26).

* Bashir Mason improved to 2-0 in games against first-year coaches.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and @bashirmason to follow the Seahawks' first-year head coach.