Men's Basketball Holds Off Sacred Heart, 81-76; Five Blackbirds Notch Double Figures

(boxscore)

2/5/05 -- Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) netted 20 points to lead Long Island University to an 81-76 triumph over Sacred Heart University in Northeast Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Schwartz Center. Williams, who scored in double figures for the 15th straight time this season, went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.

For the Blackbirds (9-12, 6-6 NEC), senior Derek Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and junior Aubin Scott (Hempstead, N.Y.) registered 12 points apiece and freshman Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) contributed 11. Sophomore Esa Maki-Tulokas (Forssa, Finland) added 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Pioneers (3-17, 2-9 NEC) were paced by sophomore Joey Henley, who recorded a game-high 23 points. Jarrid Frye and Kibwe Trim added 20 and 18 points, respectively.

Tied 9-9 at the 14:56 mark, the Blackbirds erupted on a 31-11 tear. Williams scored nine points, draining three 3-pointers, and Maki-Tulokas added seven during the 13:33 run to push ahead, 40-20. LIU led 42-22 at intermission with 20 of its points coming in the paint.

A driving layup from Scott with 16:26 remaining lifted the Blackbirds to their largest advantage, 52-26. The Pioneers countered with a 30-10 run of their own. Frye had 11 points in an 11-minute period, including a trey which cut the lead to 62-56 with 5:49 showing. The Blackbirds committed seven turnovers in the span.

Two consecutive triples from Meekins and Jones, three free throws by Williams and a layup from Bell pushed the lead back to 15 (73-58) with 4:03 remaining. The Pioneers would not go away quietly as Frye’s dunk with 1:30 remaining capped an 11-2 run and cut the advantage to 75-69.

Williams went 2-for-2 from the stripe in the closing minute and added a fast break layup to preserve the victory.

At halftime, LIU's sixth Hall-of-Fame Class was inducted. The class includeed Mickey Kydes and Roger Chavez from soccer, Riley Clarida and Ben "Red" Kramer from men's basketball, Lesley Renninger from softball and Jim Apicella from baseball and men's basketball.

The Blackbirds travel cross-bourough this week, taking on rival St. Francis (NY) on Thursday, February 10 in Brooklyn Heights.