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Staten Island, NY - Wagner ripped off a 21-4 run midway early in the second half en route to rolling to an 84-70 victory over three-time defending Northeast Conference (NEC) Champion LIU Brooklyn at the Spiro Sports Center.

Sophomore Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI / Michigan State) stole the show with this ridiculous alley-oop dunk off the backboard pass from senior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms). Tweet #SCTop10 to ESPN to get the dunk on tonight's SportsCenter.

In the second half with the score tied at 48-48 with 12:54 to play, the Seahawks kicked it into high gear with the aforementioned game-changing spurt over the next six minutes en route to opening up an insurmountable 69-52 lead with 6:53 to play.

The Green & White improved to 8-7 and a perfect 2-0 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) with its third-straight win while the Blackbirds fall to 5-10 and 0-2 in the league.

Junior Mario Moody (Jersey City, NJ / East Orange Campus) led all players with career-high matching 19 points and 10 rebounds en route to picking up his second double-double of the year and the fifth of his career while classmate Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) added 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Anderson rounded out the double-digit scorers with a career-high matching 12 points.

As a team, Wagner hit on 46.3 percent (31-of-67) from the floor while winning the rebounding battle 43-36, including 17-10 on the offensive end in leading to a 22-9 advantage in second chance points. LIU Brooklyn, meanwhile, connected on just 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the field, including 34.8 percent (8-of-22) from deep in dropping their second-straight game.

The first-half was a back-and-forth affair as the Blackbirds jumped in front 7-2 in the game's early minutes and led 14-7 at the 14:47 mark. The Seahawks then responded with six-straight points in closing the gap to 14-13 with just over 13 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Three minutes later with the visitors still holding a one-point lead, the Green & White ripped off six-straight points to take a 24-19 lead with 8:27 to play.

Wagner's advantage would grow to a half-high eight at 34-26 following a Moody dunk off a nifty feed from Ortiz at the four-minute mark. As was the story of the opening half, LIU Brooklyn responded with a 10-2 run to tie it up at 36-36 before Moody hit a layup to give the Seahawks a 38-36 lead at the break.

The teams continued to trade blows after halftime as Jason Brickman tied the game for the fifth time on the afternoon at 48-48 with a three pointer at the 12:54 mark of the second half. Senior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) promptly broke the deadlock with a three-point play, before classmate Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) and Rivers hit layups to make it a 55-48 game with 10:21 while forcing a Blackbird timeout. The stoppage would do little to quell the Green & White momentum.

Burton then hit a pair of free throws to cap a 9-0 run as Landon Atterberry briefly stopped the bleeding with a pair of his own from the line while keeping the deficit at a managable seven-point margin at 57-50 with 9:20 to play. Rivers followed with a layup, before Burton converted an old-fashioned three-point play off a nice pass from Rivers to stretch the Wagner advantage to 62-50 at the 8:35 mark of the half. Gilbert Parga then hit a pair from the line before Anderson put the game away with two back-breaking plays that took just 15 seconds.

After Parga's second free throw, Anderson hit a triple from the right wing, before Brickman pushed the ball in transition and Rivers knocked it from Brickman to Parker. Parker then found Rivers, who had the presence of mind to throw it off the backboard to a streaking Anderson for the dunk, which drove the crowd of 1,845 into a frenzy.

After a media timeout, Burton capped the 21-4 run with a layup while giving the Seahawks a 69-52 lead with just under seven minutes remaining. In the game-changing spurt, Wagner made good on 8-for-10 from the floor as LIU Brooklyn misfired on six shots while turning it over three times.

The lead would grow to a game-high 20 on a pair of occasions as the Seahawks cruised to the easy 84-70 victory.

Brickman had a solid game finishing with 12 points and six assists while D.J. Griggs matched him with 12 points off the bench. Troy Joseph added 11 points with nine rebounds and Gilbert Parga notched 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers for the Blackbirds.

Wagner, which along with Robert Morris are the only two unbeaten teams in the NEC, will look to start 3-0 in the circuit for the second-straight season and the third time in four years at Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, January 16 at 7:00 pm in a game that will be televised by Fox College Sports (FCS) and online through ESPN3.

NOTES:
* Over four career games with LIU Brooklyn, Moody is averaging 14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 65.9 percent (29-for-44) from the floor with two double-doubles.

* He has also now notched a career-high 19 points on four occasions, including doing so in each of his last three games against the Blackbirds.

* The Seahawks are now 8-1 when notching a double-double since the start of the 2011-2012 season.

* Wagner is also 52-25 and 29-9 in the NEC during that time.

* The Seahawks improved to 124-68, all-time, in the renovated Spiro Sports Center since its opening in February of 1999.

* Led by Burton's team-leading 17.5 point per game average, the Green & White reserves averaged 41.5 points each time out this week while shooting 57.1 percent (32-for-56) from the field and  52.9 percent (9-for-17) from long range,

* Wagner is a perfect 8-0 on the season when outshooting the opposition and 0-7 when failing to do so.

* The Seahawks improved to 48-1 when leading with five minutes to play and 39-2 when holding a lead at the half over the last three years.

* Today's game also marked the 26th time in head coach Bashir Mason's 46 games on the sidelines that his teams have limited the opposition to less than 40 percent shooting.

* In the current three-game winning streak, Wagner is outscoring the opposition by 16.7 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent (86-for-184) from the floor and 44.0 percent (22-for-50) from long range while limiting the opposition to just 33.3 percent (56-for-168) from the field, including 27.3 percent (15-for-55) from deep.

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 Bashir Mason">@BashirMason for news on the second-year coach.