Men's Basketball Falls 75-65 at Monmouth

(boxscore)

02/03/05 -- Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) scored 17 points and classmate Evan Meekins (E. Providence, R.I.) added 11, but it was not enough for Long Island in a 75-65 Northeast Conference loss to Monmouth at Boylan Gymnasium on Thursday evening.

Sophomore Esa Maki-Tulokas (Forssa, Finland) and freshman Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) registered 10 points apiece for the Blackbirds (8-12, 5-6 NEC).

For the Hawks (9-9, 8-1), senior Blake Hamilton paced all scorers with 26 points. Junior Tyler Azzarelli had 17 points and sophomore Marques Alston finished with 13.

MU jumped ahead, 18-6 early on a driving layup from Azzarelli with 9:16 remaining. LIU committed seven of its 12 total turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the first stanza.

The Blackbirds whittled the lead with a 15-6 run and some hot shooting from 3-point range. Triples from Jones, Maki-Tulokas and Meekins highlighted the spurt and senior Derek Bell capped it with a layup at the 4:09 mark to pull to 24-21. The Hawks led 32-36 at intermission.

The Hawks pushed ahead 43-33 on an 18-footer from Hamilton with 16:16 showing before LIU roared back. Williams registered three consective 3-pointers, each from a different spot on the court and teammates Jones and Meekins each added a triple to trim the lead to 50-49 with 11:48 remaining.

MU responded, dropping in the game's next eight points to forge a 58-49 advantage. LIU would get no closer than six points in the final minute and a half.

The Blackbirds, who nailed 12-of-29 3-pointers in the game, have connected on 25 3-pointers in two contests versus Monmouth. On January 15 in Brooklyn, LIU drained a season-high 13 trifectas.

The Blue and White, which led by as many as 10 in the second half, saw its lead trimmed to just one at 50-49 after 13-4 Blackbird run, punctuated by a Meekins 3-pointer with 11:48 remaining.

LIU returns home on Saturday, February 5 to host Sacred Heart in a Hall-of -Fame doubleheader with the women's team. Tip-off is slated for 4:00 p.m. The sixth Hall of Fame class will be recognized at halftime.

The Blackbirds will also participate in Coaches vs Cancer National Awareness weekend where coaches around the country will be wearing sneakers at their games to show support for the CvC program. CvC teams the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches in the fight against cancer. Coaches vs Cancer has raised over $23 million for the American Cancer Society's research, education, advocacy, and patient services programs during the past 11 years.