STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - After a solid first half which saw the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team take a four-point lead into the locker room at intermission, the second half saw top-seeded Wagner use pressure defense and an efficient offense to take control and sprint to an 81-65 victory over the Blackbirds in Northeast Conference Tournament semifinal action on Saturday.

Junior Joel Hernandez led LIU with 19 points, while classmate Jerome Frink pitched in with 14 points and eight rebounds.

In a physical contest that saw each team eclipse 30 free throw attempts, the Blackbirds converted three of their first four from the charity stripe in building a 7-2 lead with 17:03 remaining in the first half. Redshirt sophomore Nura Zanna was a key early, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in the opening period.

A layup from Hernandez broke a 16-16 deadlock to give LIU Brooklyn a two-point lead before six straight from the Seahawks gave the home team a 22-18 advantage at the 7:17 mark. The Blackbirds turned up their defense, however, and held Wagner scoreless for a stretch of 4:17 while scoring eight consecutive points of their own to grab a 26-22 lead. Frink had four points in the stretch while Hernandez and junior Glenn Feidanga each scored in the paint. The lead remained four heading into intermission, with Frink leading the squad with eight points and Feidanga contributing seven off the bench.

The second half started off well enough for LIU, as an aggressive mentality quickly got the Seahawks into foul trouble. The Blackbirds forced the Seahawks to foul them eight times over the first four minutes, and two free throws from Hernandez bumped the margin to 41-36 with 16:03 to go in the second half. 

Seven straight points, including five from Wagner guard Romone Saunders, shifted momentum and gave WC a 43-41 lead in less than a minute. Zanna converted down load to briefly tie the game, but eight of the next nine points were scored by the Seahawks as they built a 54-46 lead just past the midway point of the period.

From there, four straight from Hernandez brought the Blackbirds to within 54-50. But an extended 18-8 run by Wagner pushed the LIU deficit to 72-58 with under four minutes to go. Wagner cruised to victory from there, and will host its first NEC Tournament final since the 2002-03 season on Tuesday evening against No. 2 Fairleigh Dickinson.

Michael Carey had a game-high 28 points and added 10 rebounds for Wagner, while Saunders added 18. In addition to Hernandez and Frink, Zanna joined his two teammates in double figures with 11 points for the Blackbirds.