Men's Basketball Rolls to 80-39 Victory over CCNY

(boxscore)

12/22/05 -- Junior Evan Meekins (Providence, R.I.) recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as the Long Island University men’s basketball team turned in a dominant performance in defeating Division III opponent CCNY, 80-39, at the Schwartz Athletic Center on Thursday evening.

The Blackbirds (3-4) out-rebounded the Beavers, 40-24, and forced 26 turnovers which led to 31 points.

Junior James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) registered a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a 4-of-5 showing from 3-point range. Sophomore Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) had 12 points and went 2-for-2 from behind the arc, pushing his 3-pt. field goal percentage to .900 (9-of-10) on the season.

CCNY (4-4) jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead to start the game behind consecutive jumpers by junior James Boddie. After a three-pointer by Andrew Mungin gave the Beavers a 9-3 advantage, the Blackbirds would go on a 22-2 run over the next 7:52 to take control of the game. Williams had seven points during the span that gave LIU a 25-11 lead.

A three-pointer by Steven Souma cut the Beavers deficit to eight, 25-17, but that was as close as CCNY would get as the Blackbirds put together a 21-4 spurt to end the half. LIU shot 58.1 percent from the floor in the first period.

The second stanza saw the Blackbirds use a combination of zone and man-to-man on defense, forcing the Beavers to shoot 27.3 percent in the half. Kotorobai knocked down a pair of treys and scored eight of his 12 in the second frame while sophomore walk-on Jason Romer (New York, N.Y.) added five of his career-high seven points to help LIU pull away.

Souma was the lone Beavers player in double-figures with 12 points. Boddie finished with nine points and three steals.

The Blackbirds travel to Charleston, S.C. to compete in the College of Charleston Classic on Dec. 29-30. LIU will face Rider in the opening round of the two-day event at 5:30 p.m. The squad will face either Longwood or the host Cougars on Dec. 30.