BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Redshirt junior Nura Zanna made a put-back layup in the paint to tie the game with 4.2 seconds on the clock Thursday evening in the Steinberg Wellness Center, but Mount St. Mary's answered with a layup as the buzzer sounded, taking the 67-65 win over LIU Brooklyn men's basketball in the Northeast Conference season opener. With the loss, LIU moves to 7-7 overall and 0-1 in NEC action.

Zanna led the Blackbirds with three career-highs, putting up 21 points, grabbing 17 rebounds, and dishing out a team-high three assists.

The Blackbirds led for the majority of the game, despite Mount jumping out to an early lead. The visiting team would start the game on a 7-2 run to go up at 16:35. Senior Iverson Fleming hit a three, and freshman Julian Batts, in his first career start for LIU, hit a jumper that would knot it up just one minute later, 7-7. The two teams would battle back and forth from there, but the Blackbirds ended the half on a scoring spree.

Sophomore Raul Frias hit a three pointer at 9:59 to give LIU back the lead, 12-11, and from there, the Blackbirds outscored the Mount, 19-9. Zanna led the charge with six points over that ten minute span, but seniors Fleming and Jerome Frink both had four to help bolster the Blackbirds' lead. LIU led, 30-21 headed into the half.

In the second half, early shooting struggles would plague the Blackbirds. Mount came out shooting well, and used a 16-5 lead to tie the game up once more. Mount's Elijah Long led the charge, going 3-for-3 from long range, and helping knot the score up, 37-37 with 13:54 on the clock. Batts would answer with a layup 20 seconds later that gave LIU back the lead. The Blackbirds would eventually widen that lead to 48-42 on two made free throws from Fleming at 8:26, and LIU held on to the lead from there. The Blackbirds maintained he lead until the five minute mark.

After tying it up at 5:59 on a traditional three-point play, the mount would re-take the lead for good on a three pointer and a layup from Junior Robinson. Zanna would help LIU tie the game up twice more: his made free throws at 3:06 tied the game, 59-59, and his put-back with four seconds to go kept hope alive for the home team. But Mount's final inbounds play was a success, as Chris Wray took the ball baseline to baseline, and made the layup as the buzzer sounded, giving Mount the 67-65 victory.

BLACKBIRD BITS
- The Blackbirds had 26 second chance points in the loss, while Mount held the edge in free throw shooting. The Mountaineers went 17-for-21 from the charity stripe, for an 81.8 percent average.
- MSM had three players in double figures, led by Long with 21 points, on 4-for-4 shooting from downtown. Junior Robinson added 13, while Mawdo Sallah had 11 points and six rebounds.
- Nura Zanna had a career night for the Blackbirds, with 21 points, a new career high. He also grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, and had a game-high three assists.
- Senior Jerome Frink was one board away from a double-double, with 14 points and nine rebounds
- Senior Iverson Fleming had 12 points despite 3-of-21 shooting, and led the defense with two steals.
- Sophomore Raul Frias added eight points and four boards in the loss, which was LIU's fourth straight.  
- Up next, the Blackbirds host Bryant on New Year's Eve, Saturday, December 31 at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs also lost in dramatic fashion in their NEC opener, falling to St. Francis Brooklyn, 80-77 in overtime.