BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team had a big non-conference win at home Monday night, beating the Stony Brook Seawolves, 75-71 behind 23 points from senior Joel Hernandez. With the win, the Blackbirds move to 4-6 on the season.

Hernandez was one of four LIU players in double figures, including Raiquan Clark (20 points, six rebounds), Julius van Sauers (career-high 16 points, seven rebounds) and Jashaun Agosto (10 points, 5 assists).

The game was a back and forth affair, in which the lead changed hands five times and the score was tied nine times. Stony Brook opened the game by going up quickly, and widening the lead to 14-5 at 15:04. LIU head coach Derek Kellogg called a timeout, and a different Blackbird squad came out of the huddle. Senior Zach Coleman would hit a three pointer, and Agosto had two straight defensive rebounds that he dished to Clark who would make the fast break layups. In the span of just 60 seconds, LIU cut the lead to two points, 14-12.

The two teams would stay close from there, with Stony Brook holding small leads until 10:30, when junior Julius van Sauers gave the Blackbirds a spark. He made a layup and converted the three-point play, starting a 12-4 run by LIU that would out the home team up, 28-24 at 7:28.

Stony Brook would close the half on a strong note to take the lead. After coming back to tie it up, they would score a layup as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half, going up 38-34 at the break.

In the second half, the Blackbirds were the ones to come out on a strong note. Hernandez would make a three-pointer on the first play of the half, sparking an 11-4 run by LIU. A jump shot by Clark at 15:43 would make it 45-42 in favor of the home team.

Stony Brook would tie it up twice more over the next five minutes, before the Blackbirds started to create a cushion. LIU would outscore the Seawolves 13-6 over three minutes, including a trey by van Sauers, and the Blackbirds had their widest lead of the game, 65-58 at 7:08.

Stony Brook answered with a 7-0 run that would tie the score up at 65-65, and the two teams stayed knotted from there. The Seawolves' last lead of the game came at 3:06 when they hit a three to go up, 68-67. But at the two minute mark, Clark would make a layup, and with 15 seconds left to play, Agosto hit a big three that helped widen LIU's lead to four, 73-69. Though Stony Brook would make a layup their next trip down the court, Agosto and Hernandez would both make free throws in the final seconds, and the Seawolves would have a costly turnover and miss their last-ditch shot, clinching LIU's win, 75-71.

NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Joel Hernandez led LIU with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, along with seven rebounds.
• Raiquan Clark had 20 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the win for LIU.
• Julius van Sauers had a breakout night for the Blackbirds, scoring a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. He also had seven rebounds, a block and two steals in 22 minutes of action.
• Jashaun Agosto added 10 points and five assists, while Julian Batts had nine rebounds, four steals and three points.
• Jaron Cornish led Stony Brook with 15 points, while Junior Saintel had 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Up next, the Blackbirds take on Fairfield, Sunday, December 10 at 3:30 p.m. at the Barclays Center.