Men's Basketball Suffers 77-68 Loss at St. Francis (NY) in “Battle of Brooklyn”

(boxscore)

2/10/05 -- Long Island University let an eight-point lead with 7:25 slip away in a 77-68 Northeast Conference loss at St. Francis (NY) in the 30th annual “Battle of Brooklyn.”

Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) scored 17 points, freshman Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) played exceptionally well with 16 points and senior Derek Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) gave LIU a lift off the bench with 16 and eight rebounds.

Bell scored eight points during a 15-8 run as the Blackbirds (9-13, 6-7 NEC) opened a 61-53 cushion with 7:25 remaining. Bell, who scored 10 points in the second half, capped the spurt on a layup.

The Terriers (9-11, 5-6) responded quickly with eight straight points for a 61-61 tie, pulling even when “Battle of Brooklyn” MVP Allan Sheppard hit a jumper.

The teams traded baskets before Christian Brown made two free throws to put St. Francis (NY) ahead for good, 65-63 with 2:57 left. That began a run of six straight points for the home team thanks to a stifling press, punctuated by Tristan Smith’s steal and fast-break dunk with 2:12 to play for a 69-63 contest.

Bell made two free throws with 1:52 remaining for a 69-65 game. But Brown hit a layup with 1:29 left and Sheppard converted 1-of-2 from the stripe with 1:18 to go for a seven-point contest. LIU would get no closer and saw its series lead in the “BOB” shrink to 16-14.

The Blackbirds could not overcome shooting just 6-of-19 from the line and being on the wrong end of a 21-7 turnover margin. Junior Aubin Scott (Hempstead, N.Y.) grabbed nine rebounds and freshman Paulius Morkeliunas (Kaunas, Lithuania) added eight to help LIU own a 44-28 rebounding edge.

LIU shot an astounding 65 percent (28-of-55) from the floor in the opening half, but was just 1-of-8 from the line over that time and trailed, 40-39, at the break.

Sheppard closed with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting along with six rebounds and four blocks for the Terriers, who hit for 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field that included 60 percent (25-of-42) on 2-pointers. Brown netted 21 points and Smith added 10 with six assists and five steals.

LIU opens a two-game homestand Saturday against Quinnipiac at 4:00 pm.