SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior
Joel Hernandez and sophomore
Julian Batts shot the lights out in the Chace Athletic Center Saturday afternoon, both hitting career highs en route to an 84-71 LIU Brooklyn men's basketball win over Bryant. Hernandez had 32 points, besting a previous career-high set on Thursday, while Batts had 27 points, including seven three-pointers made. The sophomore was just one trey shy of tying LIU's single game record for three-pointers made in a game (8), set by LIU Hall of Famer Charles Jones.
With the win, their third-straight, the Blackbirds improve to 12-13 overall, and 7-5 in the Northeast Conference. LIU currently sits in a four-team tied for third place in the league standings.
The Blackbirds got the game off on a good foot Saturday. Sophomore
Jashaun Agosto opened scoring with a three, one of 14 the team would have in the contest. 14 three-pointers made is a season-high for LIU, and the most for a Blackbird team since February of 2012. Most of those came from Batts, who started scoring with a jumper at 18:23. Just 20 seconds later, he hit a three. Over the next four minutes, Batts would score 14 straight points, going 5-for-5 from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 from long distance. He would add two free throws at 12:43 to give the Blackbirds a 22-8 lead. From there, Hernandez took over, scoring nine of LIU's next 10 points, and putting the visitors up, 31-15 with 4:21 to play. Bryant would use a few threes of their own to start to close the gap as the half ran down, whittling the lead down to single digits, 39-30 with 27 seconds left to play. But Batts would drain another three with two seconds on the clock, giving LIU the 42-30 lead at the halftime break.
In the second half, Bryant would start strong, scoring five unanswered points to come within eight, 43-35 at 18:12. But Hernandez and Batts would continue to widen the lead, putting together a 15-3 run for the Blackbirds that widened the lead to 20 points, 58-38 at 14:28. Batts would drain another three at 11:40, that gave LIU its widest lead of the day, 64-42.
Later in the half, Bryant would string together a 9-0 run and a 7-0 spurt that brought the Bulldogs back within 10, 77-67 with 1:49 to play. But Bryant was forced to play the foul game, and Agosto, Hernandez and
Jamall Robinson went a combined 7-for-8 from the free throw line to seal the win, 84-71.
NOTES FROM THE NEST
- Senior Joel Hernandez had his second-straight 30+ point game, resetting his career high for the third time in the last two weeks. He finished with 32 points, going 12-for-23 from the field, including four three pointers made. He also had eight rebounds, an assist and a steal for the Blackbirds.
- Julian Batts shattered his previous career high of 20 points, finished the day with 27 points in 38 minutes of action. He went 7-for-13 from three-point range, and 9-for-16 from the field overall, along with nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
- Sophomore Jashaun Agosto flirted with a triple double for the second time this season, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
- Redshirt senior Zach Coleman also had a big game, grabbing 11 rebounds (including five offensive) to lead the Blackbirds on the boards. He also had seven points and two blocks in the win, in just 11 minutes of play.
- As a team, LIU had 14 three pointers, a season high, and the most for a Blackbird team since February 18th, 2012, when LIU had 14 against Quinnipiac.
- Bryant had three players score in double figures, led by Ikenna Ndugba, who had 18 points.
- Up next, the Blackbirds host two tough teams in downtown Brooklyn, welcoming Saint Francis U. and Robert Morris to the Steinberg Wellness Center, February 8 and 10.