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Staten Island, NY - Senior Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / City College of San Francisco) scored 15 of his game-high 19 points after halftime while junior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) added 17 point on just seven shots to lead Wagner to a 74-65 victory over Mount St. Mary's, before an ESPN3/Fox College Sports audience and 2,107 fans at the Spiro Sports Center.

With their fifth-straight win over the Mount, the Seahawks improve to 13-9 and 7-4 in the NEC while the Mountaineers fall to 9-13 and 4-7 in the league.

Wagner raced out to a 38-26 at the half thanks to shooting a blistering 58.6 percent (17-for-29) and outscored Mount St. Mary's 28-14 in the paint while posting a 14-4 advantage in fast break points. Fueling the Seahawks' big half was junior Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Science Park / Southern Mississippi), who scored eight points with five assists, against just one turnover, in the decisive opening stanza.

After Rashad Whack opened the game with a three pointer, Wagner responded with six-straight points to take a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the way.

With the Seahawk advantage at 8-7 just over five minutes into the game, Rivers scored the first of 11-straight Wagner points - nine of which came off Mount turnovers - with an off-balance layup. After a miscue on the opposite end, Rivers hit a pair from the line, Ortiz a layup and freshman Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI / Suttons Bay / Michigan State) a three pointer, before Ortiz capped the run with a layup that extended the lead out to 19-7 with 10:43 to play until halftime.

The Mountaineers would cut the deficit to six on five occasions in the opening stanza, only to see the Green & White answer each time while setting a troubling trend for the visitors.

With the Wagner lead at 30-24 after a Kelvin Parker three pointer, the visitors held firm on the defensive end and had a chance to further dent the lead. However, senior Josh Thompson (Bridgeton, NJ / St. Augustine Prep) stepped in front of a Josh Castellanos pass and took it the other way for a thunderous dunk while quelling the Mount St. Mary's spurt. Sophomore Mario Moody (East Orange, NJ / East Orange Campus) then blocked a shot and finished up on the offensive end with another big-time dunk off a pass from Ortiz. Then Anderson extended the lead back out to 12 with a fast break layup.

Kelvin Parker stopped the bleeding with a pair from the line, before Moody delivered another powerful dunk to give the Seahawks a 38-26 halftime lead.

The Green & White defense also had a major hand in opening up a 12-point halftime lead, forcing the Mount into 1-for-8 shooting over the first five-plus minutes of the game and just 36.0 percent (9-for-25) for the period, including 18.2 percent (2-for-11) from long range.

Mount St. Mary's opened up the second half with a 9-3 run to trim the deficit to 41-35 with 16:24 to play, but was unable to corral a pair of misses on the opposite end as Moody pushed the lead back out to nine with an old-fashioned three-point play. The Mount continued to fight and would cut the lead to seven on twice and six on one occasion. Each time, Mount St. Mary's had a chance trim the deficit to four, only to misfire on a pair of triple tries and a layup as Wagner would keep the visitors at bay.

The Mountaineers would trim the Seahawk lead to five at 70-65 with a late triple, but get no closer as Williams and Thompson each hit a pair from the line to provide the final 74-65 score.

Williams helped close out the Green & White victory with 15 second-half points, thanks to converting on 4-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the line with six rebounds. The Golden State native also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to go along with his 19 points while pacing Wagner in rebounding for the 12th time this year and in scoring for the 11th..

Rivers, who was honored prior to the game for eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his career against Quinnipiac, finished up with 17 points, on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor while also going 6-for-8 from the line. Thompson notched double-figures for the first time this year with 10 points and eight rebounds to round out the double-figure scorers for the Seahawks.

Despite not hitting for double-figures, Ortiz added eight points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals while effectively running the Green & White offense. Leading the reserves was Moody, who chipped in with eight points in just 13 minutes.

Whack led the way for Mount St. Mary's with a game-high matching 19 points while Parker added 15 and Shivaughn Wiggins 11.

As a team, the Green & White shot 47.2 percent (23-for-57) from the floor and 77.8 percent (21-for-27) from the line while posting advantages in rebounds (38-28), points in the paint (42-26), points off turnovers (21-17), second chance points (12-10) and fast break points (14-10).

Wagner travels to Robert Morris for a rematch of last year's NEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, February 9 at 7:00 pm.

Notes:
* Wagner is now 31-17, all-time, against Mount St. Mary's, including going 15-8 on Staten Island.

* Head coach Bashir Mason improved to 4-0 against first-year NEC coaches this season with his second victory over Jamion Christian.

* Mason also matched Dan Hurley and Mike Deane for most wins by a rookie coach since the Seahawks moved up to the Division I ranks in 1976-1977.

* Wagner also moved to 10-5 this year in games decided by 10 points or less or in overtime and is 20-9 over the last two years.

* The Seahawks also now 7-2 at home this season and is 19-5 in the Spiro Sports Center over the last two season, including 13-4 against conference opponents.

* All-time in the renovated Spiro Sports Center, the Green & White is 118-66 (.641).

* Wagner won for the 30th-straight game when leading with five minutes to play and is a perfect 12-0 this season and 37-1 over the last two years.

* When scoring 70 points or more, the Seahawks are 5-0 this season and 24-1 over the last two years.

* Rivers (1,026) moved past Marty Ansa, Jr. (1,014), James Ulrich (1,023) and Chris Martin (1,024) into 37th place on the all-time Seahawk scoring list, including 23rd among Division I players (since 1976-1977).

* Over his last two games, Rivers is averaging 23.0 points per game while converting on 13-for-23 (.565) from the floor and 7-for-11 (.636) from long range.

* He has now notched double-figures in scoring 54 times in his 74 career games with the Green & White.

* Williams led the team in scoring for the 22nd time in his two-year career and on the glass for the 24th time.

* In four career games against Mount St. Mary's, the Golden State native is now averaging 15.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.0 percent (22-40) from the floor, 50.0 percent (3-for-6) from long range and 92.9 percent (13-for-14) from the line.

* Williams also converted all six of his free throws over the final five minutes and has made good on 22-of-24 (.917) in games decided by 10 points or less or in overtime.

* Ortiz recorded at least seven assists for the fifth time this year.

* Thompson notched double-figures for the first time since going for a team-best 11 points against Saint Francis U on February 4, 2012 - a span of 29 games.

* Wagner is now 10-3 over the last two years following a loss and snapped a four-game losing streak in televised games.

* Tonight's contest was broadcast regionally on Fox College Sports (FCS) and online via ESPN3 ... Those wishing to watch a replay may do so by clicking HERE

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.

Photography by Dave Saffran