EMMITSBURG, Md. – Despite trailing by as many as 10 points in the second half, the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team rallied to nearly beat Mount St. Mary's Thursday night in Knott Arena. After a late three from Ty Flowers with just 11 seconds left, the sophomore then got a big steal on defense, giving his team a last-second chance to win the game. But the shot was off, and the Mountaineers took the win, 74-72. With the loss, LIU moves to 9-10 on the season, and 3-4 in the Northeast Conference.
 
Early in the game, the Blackbirds went up on the home team, 10-6, but Mount would go on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes that gave them a 15-10 lead, and LIU called a timeout. Junior Julian Batts came out of the time out and scored five straight points for the Blackbirds, including an NBA-range three pointer to tie it back up at 15, with 8:26 to play in the first half.
 
Another 9-2 run by the home team, including seven points by freshman Vado Morse, put them up, 24-17 with 6:10 to play, and they would eventually move the lead to 29-22. But the Blackbirds would put together a run of their own, ending the half on a 10-3 scoring spree, including a put back layup from junior Ganlandou Cisse with 34 seconds left in the half that would tie it up, 32-32.
 
Coming out of the break, however, the Mountaineers would score nine unanswered points in just two minutes, taking a 41-32 lead, and forcing LIU to call a timeout. Over the next seven minutes, the Mount would go 6-for-7 from three-point range. Though senior Raul Frias helped the Blackbirds by making two threes of his own in that span, the home team was able to widen the lead to 10, 55-45 with just over 11 minutes left to play.
 
Clark and sophomore Eral Penn would both score in spurts over the next eight minutes. Six straight points from Clark helped close the gap back down, 68-62 with 3:33 on the clock, and just 32 seconds later, Flowers would hit a three that cut the lead to just five. Clark followed that with a jump shot at 2:11 that made it 70-67, and the Blackbirds were within striking distance.
 
In the final seconds of play, Flowers would hit a step-back three that cut the lead to just two points, 74-72, with 11 seconds to go. On the next play, the Blackbirds' defense tied up the ball, but the refs ruled in favor of the home team, and the Mount got possession back with 5.6 seconds on the clock. Once again, LIU's defense stepped up, as Flowers was able to steal the inbounds pass, and send it to the corner, but the three-point attempt was no good, and the Mountaineers sealed the dramatic win, 74-72.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Four Blackbirds scored in double figures for LIU, led by senior Raiquan Clark, who had 22 points (going 9-for-16 from the field), along with eight rebounds.
• Junior Julian Batts and sophomore Eral Penn both had 12 points for the Blackbirds. Penn went 6-for-7 from the field, while Batts when 2-for-3 from three-point range.
• Sophomore Ty Flowers had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Vado Morse led all scorers with 24 points, including four three pointers, while Jalen Gibbs had 19 points, shooting 4-for-6 from behind the arc.
• Mount St. Mary's shot 84.2 percent from the free throw line in the win, and move to 5-10 overall, and 2-5 in the NEC.
• Up next, the Blackbirds travel north to take on CCSU, Saturday, January 26 at 1 p.m.