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Staten Island, NY - Senior Kenneth Ortiz (Newark, NJ / Southern Mississippi) scored 18 points while recording a career-high seven steals in leading Wagner to a dominating 73-61 victory over Bryant before 2,027 fans at the Spiro Sports Center in a game aired nationally on the CBS Sports Network.

Thanks to Ortiz's seven thefts, the Seahawks limited the Bulldogs to just 61 points, which is the lowest scoring output for the visitors during league play.

The seven steals are also most by a NEC student-athlete this year and the most by a Green & White player since Dedrick Dye recorded a school-record eight against Robert Morris on February 3, 2001.

Wagner won its third-straight game in improving to 13-11 and 7-4 in the Northeast Conference (NEC) while Bryant falls to 16-10 and 8-3 in the league.

Alex Francis led all players with 26 points and 10 rebounds and surpassed the 2,000-point plateau for his career with a free throw at the 18:14-mark of the second half.

The Seahawks grabbed control of the game midway through the first half. Junior Mario Moody's (Jersey City, NJ / East Orange Campus) while 9:57 remaining in the opening stanza broke an 18-18 deadlock while sparking a 9-0 run before Ortiz stole the ball on the ensuing possession and took it coast-to-coast for a layup. Following a media timeout, senior Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) hit a jumper and sophomore Langston Burnett (Beltsville, MD / St. Vincent Pallotti) followed with a triple in extending the lead out to 27-18 with 6:59 to play while forcing a Bulldog timeout.

After Francis momentarily stopped the bleeding with a pair from the line, the Green & White responded with a 7-2 spurt in opening up a 12-point lead with 2:08 remaining in the half. All told, Wagner ripped off a 16-4 run over 7:24 while limiting Bryant to just 1-for-13 shooting in the decisive stretch in taking a 34-24 halftime lead.

In the pivotal stanza, eight different Seahawk players scored between two and six points while combining to make good on 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from the field, including 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from deep.

After halftime, Wagner used a 15-4 run to extend the lead out to a game-high 19 at 51-32 with 11:40 to play only to see the Bulldogs answer with eight-straight points.

Bryant would get to within seven at 59-52 with 3:31 to play following a Joe O'Shea three pointer, but was unable to get any closer. On the ensuing possession, senior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) corralled the offensive rebound before Rivers converted a three-point play to extend the advantage back to double-digits at 62-52.

The Bulldogs would cut the deficit to eight on two more occasions but was unable to further dent the lead in seeing their three-game winning streak snapped.

Wagner shot 48.9 percent (22-of-45) from the floor, including a blistering 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from long range, and 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the line while winning the rebounding battle (29-26). Bryant, meanwhile, shot a respectable 46.2 percent (24-of-52) from the field but was able to convert on just 2-of-13 (.154) from deep against the NEC's top three-point field goal percentage unit.

Rivers scored 15 points with three assists and sophomore Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) added 13 points and two assists off the bench to lead the double-figure scorers for the Seahawks.

With the win, the senior class of Folahan, Ortiz, Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) and Rivers captured their 70th win and surpassed the Class of 2004 for the most wins by a class on Grymes Hill in the Division I era (since 1976-1977).

The Green & White returns to action against Sacred Heart on Thursday, February 20 at 7:00 pm.

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 for news on the second-year coach. Photography by Dave Saffran.