STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The last time that the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team and the Wagner Seahawks met in January, it was a back-and-forth battle between the two borough teams, and Saturday's matinee matchup in the Spiro Sports Center was no different. After overcoming a significant first half deficit, the Blackbirds would stay locked in with Wagner throughout the second half, as neither team would lead by more than six points. In the end, the Seahawks took the win thanks to late free throws, 78-74. LIU sophomore
Julian Batts would lead all scorers with 21 points in the game.
Early in the game, Wagner jumped out to a 9-0 lead, and LIU head coach
Derek Kellogg called a timeout. Thought LIU would start to score, it took the first ten minutes of the half for the Blackbirds to really get going. Down. 21-12 at 11:15, senior Jamal Robinson started the spark for LIU with his three-pointer at the ten-minute mark. Just over two minutes later, sophomore
Julian Batts hit a three that barely moved the net, and cut the lead to just two points, 23-21.
Back-to-back three pointers for the Seahawks would widen the lead back up to ten points, 31-21 at 5:46, but then
Joel Hernandez went to work. The senior hit two free throws, a fast break three-pointer and a jumper at 4:10 that cut the gap back down to three points, 31-28 with 4:10 to play. 45 seconds later, Batts would drain another three at 3:25, and then made three of four at the free throw line to put the Blackbirds on top for the first time, 34-33 with 2:22 in the half. Junior
Raul Frias would hit two more free throws to keep it tied up, but Wagner made a late basket, taking the 38-36 advantage into the break.
As close as the first half was, the second half was even closer. Though Wagner would take a 45-39 lead early on, LIU erased the advantage quickly. Batts hit at here pointer at 16:36, and junior
Raiquan Clark had back-to-back baskets that would tie the game up, 47-47 at 15:05. From there, the two teams stayed locked together. Every time Wagner would go up, the Blackbirds would answer, and vice versa. LIU would use a layup from Clark to take the lead, 57-54 at 9:14, but the Seahawks would score six unanswered points to retake the lead just two minutes later. Hernandez would hit two free throws at 4:29 that put LIU back up, 65-64, but another Seahawk spurt would give them the 69-65 lead with two minutes left to play. The cushion was all Wagner needed on their rowdy home court. Though Agosto would bring LIU within one point, 71-70 with 1:02 to play, ad Clark would make a layup with five seconds left in the game, it wasn't enough to stymie the Seahawks, and Wagner won, 78-74.
NOTES FROM THE NEST
- Sophomore Julian Batts led all scorers with 21 points, going 4-for-6 from three point range, while junior Raiquan Clark had 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, eight rebounds and two assists. Senior Joel Hernandez added 12 points.
- LIU out-rebounded the Seahawks, 40-29, but had 16 turnovers to Wagner's nine. Wagner would score 19 of their points off of LIU turnovers.
- JoJo Cooper led Wagner with 18 points, one of four players to score in double digits in the home court win. The Seahawks improved to 20-7 with the victory, including a 13-3 record in the NEC.
- With the loss, LIU moves to 13-16 overall, and 8-8 in the Northeast Conference with two games left to play in the regular season.
- Up next, the Blackbirds host St. Francis for the 43rd annual Battle of Brooklyn, Thursday, February 22, in an 8 pm game that will air nationally on ESPN3.