Wagner College men's team knocks off Penn in overtime, 68-63 (photo gallery)

Point guard Kenny Ortiz was explaining why his Wagner team continues playing ? and winning ? overtime games at Spiro Center, Saturday?s 68-63 victory over Penn being the Wagner?s third in three home games this season.
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?We just like to give the home crowd some entertainment,? the junior declared with a broad smile after scoring a career-high 23 points in the Seahawks? fourth win in their last five games.
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?We refuse to lose,? the 5-foot-11 Southern Mississippi ?transfer went on after scoring Wagner?s final eight points as the team improved to 6-5. ?In the overtime, I saw they were having trouble keeping me out of the lane and I just went for it.?
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Wagner has also defeated Princeton and Coppin State so far this season in overtime.
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?Sometimes we make things harder than we have to,? coach Bashir Mason said after Ortiz made six consecutive free throws over the final 19 seconds to ice the game. ?But we have a gritty group of guys, and going to overtime doesn?t worry me.?
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Latif Rivers, last year?s team high scorer, returned from an eight-game injury absence to score 15 points including three 3-point baskets in regulation and a clutch running bank shot with 2:40 left in overtime.
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Senior star Jonathon Williams did not suit up. The 6-5 senior, who leads the Seahawks this year in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), has been hampered by what has been diagnosed as a hip flexor by the Wagner medical staff.
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Missing Williams, made Rivers? return all the more important.
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?Having him back makes everyone more comfortable,? said Mason. ?When Latif is out there, I feel like I have a guy who can make a perimeter shot when we need one.?
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Rivers, who was 3 of 5 from 3-point range, missed a corner jumper with 40 seconds left in regulation, but an Orlando Parker rebound and the forward?s converting of 1 of 2 free throws tied the score at 54-54.
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Overtime came after Penn?s Miles Cartwright (19 points) missed a buzzer jump shot for the win.
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Wagner, which opens its Northeast Conference schedule at home on Thursday against Monmouth, won the overtime tap and scored on a Mario Moody jam off a pretty drive-and-kick from Ortiz, who finished with six assists.
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Then Ortiz, last season?s NEC defensive player of the year, stole the ball in the paint at the other end and found Josh Thompson for a run-out fast-break basket and a 58-54 lead.
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?That was critical,? said Mason. ?To open overtime with a basket, a stop, and another basket, is a huge edge. It?s only four points, but it?s a big four points.?
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Rivers? key basket on a fade-away bank shot came moments later.
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And Ortiz, who led the Seahawks with 10 rebounds, scored on a huge put-back in traffic for a 62-58 Wagner lead with 1:13 to go.
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?Kenny managed the game in the second half the way I?ve seen him do it in the past,? Mason said of his point guard?s 16 points post-first half performance. ?He didn?t start off the game great, and I pulled him just to try and hit the reset button a little. But he and the rest of the guys really stepped up when they had to.?
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Wagner trailed 31-29 at halftime.
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According to Ortiz, some of his big day was attributable to the return of his backcourt mate Rivers.
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?It?s an easier game for me when he?s out there,? Ortiz said. ?I know if I drive and find Latif for a kick-out it?s like an automatic basket waiting to happen.?
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Penn was without the services of team high scorer Fran Dougherty. The 6-8 Dougherty, who is averaging 15.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, both team highs, was diagnosed with mononucleosis earlier this week.
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Wagner trailed 22-13 in the opening minutes, before a pair of Rivers 3-pointers ignited a 12-4 Seahawk run. The junior had been out since Nov. 18, when he played in Wagner?s 88-57 loss at Syracuse.
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He played 28 minutes Saturday.
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?The knee didn?t bother me,? he insisted. ?I feel like I?m making progress, coming back. But you have to play in live games, you can?t simulate that.?
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Rivers will sit out the Monmouth game due to a one-game NEC-imposed suspension for a scrap at the end of Wagner?s final game last year, a 71-64 loss to Robert Morris in the semis of the conference tournament. ?

NOTES: Sophomore Moody (6 points, 6 rebounds) got his first career start ... Rivers has already amassed 898 points in his career ... The Seahawks turned the ball over 19 times. ?

Source: http://www.silive.com/colleges/index.ssf/2012/12/wagner_college_mens_team_knock.html

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