National Basketball Association
Wagner 59, Pittsburgh 54
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, December 23, 2011
Where: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# John Gaffney, # Ed Hightower, # Mike Roberts
Attendance:
9315
By SportsDirect Inc.
Latif Rivers scored all 18 of his points in the second half and Wagner stunned No. 13 Pittsburgh 59-54 on Friday to snap the Panthers’ nine-game winning streak and hand the hosts their first loss against a Northeast Conference team.
Pittsburgh (11-2), which lost to Long Beach State 86-76 at home on Nov. 16, fell to 91-3 in non-conference games at the Petersen Events Center and 156-14 all-time. The Panthers are 70-1 against the Northeast Conference.
Wagner (8-3), which had lost 13 straight to the Big East Conference, went up by as many as 12 midway through the second half as a four-point lead ballooned to 44-32 when Kenneth Ortiz had three of his seven assists, feeding Rivers for a pair of baskets and Chris Martin for a long 3-pointer.
Ashton Gibbs (team-high 14 points), who didn’t score in the first 31 minutes, tried to keep the Panthers in it with eight straight team points to cut the deficit to 48-44 with 6:16 left. Gibbs’ had two free throws and Dante Taylor a tip-in to get the Panthers to within three points on two occasions, but Rivers scored the Seahawks’ final eight points, including 6-for-6 at the free throw line.
In the first half, Pittsburgh went 8:22 without registering a field goal, while Tyler Murray knocked down a 3-pointer to cap a 12-2 run and allow Wagner to grab the lead for good. Pittsburgh finally ended its field goal drought when Talib Zanna had a layup to get to it within 25-23, but Murray answered with another 3-pointer, and his free throw put the Seahawks back up six with two minutes left until halftime.
Top Game Performances
Wagner |
|
Pittsburgh |
Latif Rivers 18 |
Scoring |
Ashton Gibbs 14 |
Kenneth Ortiz 7 |
Assists |
Lamar Patterson 4 |
Jonathon Williams 9 |
Rebounds |
Nasir Robinson 9 |
Latif Rivers 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Ashton Gibbs 3 |
Marcus Burton 1 |
Steals |
Lamar Patterson 2 |
N/A |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Wagner
|
59 |
42.9 |
6-17 |
11-15 |
11 |
26 |
0 |
5 |
13 |
Pittsburgh
|
54 |
39.6 |
2-15 |
14-23 |
10 |
35 |
0 |
4 |
18 |