National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
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

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