(boxscore)
 1/26/06 --Long
Island University christened its new $40 million dollar facility,
the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center, with a 63-60
Northeast Conference men’s basketball triumph over
Sacred Heart on Thursday evening. The Blackbirds improve
to 5-11, 2-5 in the NEC while the Pioneers fall to 9-10,
6-4.
Junior guard James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) registered a team-best
14 points, all coming in the second half. Sophomore guard Randy
Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and junior forward Esa Maki-Tulokas
(Forssa, Finland) added nine and eight points, respectively.
Trailing by two (35-33) at the 14:52 mark of the second half,
LIU erupted on a 23-10 tear for a 56-45 cushion with 6:12 showing.
Sophomore Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) had eight
points and Williams added seven during the spurt. The Blackbirds
hit five of their eight three-pointers in the game during the
eight minute span.
The Pioneers closed to 62-60 with nine seconds on the clock on
a baseline triple from Luke Granato but could get no closer.
Sophomore forward Paska Morkelinuas (Kaunas, Lithuania) hit 1-of-2
from the charity stripe with 7.8 seconds remaining to seal the
victory, snapping a three-game losing streak.
SHU jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the contest. LIU got its
first basket in its new arena at the 16:10 mark on a dunk by
Maki-Tulokas. A trifecta from junior guard Evan Meekins (E. Providence,
R.I.) with 7:25 remaining in the half capped a 17-9 run and gave
the Blackbirds their first lead of the game. They led 26-25 at
intermission.
Junior Jarrid Frye scored a game-high 16 points and senior Kibwe
Trim had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Sacred Heart, which shot
just 58.3 percent from the free throw line.
LIU hosts Wagner on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. as part of a doubleheader,
preceded by the women’s contest at 2:00 pm.
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