SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team concludes a tough stretch of games to start the Northeast Conference season on Saturday. The Blackbirds have faced four of their first six league opponents on the road, including trips to Mount St. Mary's, Central Connecticut and Bryant. The Blackbirds will trek to Smithfield, R.I., to take on the Bulldogs in a afternoon contest scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m.
QUICK HITTERS•Junior
Aakim Saintil broke out of a recent slump by scoring a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the second half, to help LIU come from behind in a 71-70 win over Wagner.
•LIU Brooklyn trailed by 17 points early in the second stanza before a 17-0 run over the ensuing five minutes tied the contest. The Blackbirds received key contributions from Saintil and junior
Jerome Frink, who scored 17 points, six of which came over the final two minutes.
•Saintil entered having shot 12-for-53 (22.6%) from the floor over his previous five games including 4-for-24 (16.7%) from three-point range.
•The 17-point deficit is the largest overcome by an LIU Brooklyn team in over a decade, with the closest comeback effort coming against Hofstra on Dec. 12, 2012 (16 points with 12:01 remaining; W, 88-84)
•Bryant enters having won five of its last six contests, all in the NEC, and is tied for first place in the league with Fairleigh Dickinson and Mount St. Mary's.
•The Bulldogs have a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double figures, led by sophomore guard Hunter Ware at 13.8 points per game.
•Freshmen Nisre Zouzoua and Marcel Pettway are scoring 10.7 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.