FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team led with just over a minute left to play, but couldn't finish it out, falling to Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference opener, 79-75. Senior Raiquan Clark led the Blackbirds (6-7, 0-1 NEC) in the loss, putting up 28 points.
 
In the first half, Sacred Heart (5-9, 1-0 NEC) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before the Blackbirds got on the board. And the home team only built on the lead from there, going up 15-4 before LIU called a timeout. Sophomore Eral Penn gave the Blackbirds a spark off the bench, and sophomore Shyheim Hicks would help with a big three, but SHU widened the lead to 30-15 at the nine-minute mark. The Pioneers were on fire from long distance, going 7-for-11 from three-point range, while LIU struggled, going 1-for-12 from behind the arc.
 
The Blackbirds kept battling back, however. A three-pointer by Julius van Sauers cut the lead to 10, 44-34 with a minute left in the first half; the junior then made two free throws to bring the Blackbirds back in single digits, and LIU trailed, 46-38 at the halftime break.
 
Coming out of the break, however, is where LIU really started to do damage, and senior Raiquan Clark really started to heat up. Clark scored six straight points to close the gap to five, 49-44 at 17:57, and less than a minute later, Ty Flowers hit a big trey that closed the lead to four, 51-47. Four minutes later, Clark would tie it up, 53-53 on a three-point shot. The three was a part of a larger 17-8 run that would give the Blackbirds their first lead of the game. Junior Julian Batts would hit a floating jump shot in the paint at 12:30 that gave LIU its first lead of the game, 55-54.
 
The two teams continued to battle back and forth. A three by senior Raul Frias widened LIU's lead to five, 61-56, and then Hicks would make back-to-back baskets that put the Blackbirds up, 67-63, with 6:43 to play. But the Pioneers went on a late run, scoring seven unanswered points to take the lead back, 70-67 with just under five minutes to play.
 
Junior Jashaun Agosto single-handedly put LIU back within striking distance, with a layup and a three-pointer that brought LIU back within one point, 74-73 with just over two minutes left, and Batts would put the Blackbirds on top a minute later. The junior had a big offensive board and putback layup that gave LIU a 75-74 lead with 1:25 to play. But a big three by SHU down the stretch and two made free throws in the final seconds of the game gave Sacred Heart the edge in the end, and the first conference win of the season, 79-75.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• First half shooting proved to be the difference in the end. Both teams were over 50 percent from the field in the first stanza, but SHU shot 63.6 percent from behind the arc, compared to LIU's 8.3 percent. In the end, the Blackbirds shot just 20 percent from three-point range, along with 47.1 percent from the free throw line (8-for-17).
• Raiquan Clark led all scorers with 28 points, on 11-for-20 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
• Junior Jashaun Agosto was the only other Blackbird in double digits, as he had 14 points and seven assists.
• Junior Julian Batts had a career-high 10 rebounds to lead LIU, along with six points, four assists and three steals.
• Coming off the bench, Eral Penn (eight points, two steals) and Shyheim Hicks (seven points) helped offensively in the loss.
• LIU outscored SHU in the paint, 50-34, but the Pioneers were 19-for-24 from the free throw line (79.2 percent)
• Up next, the Blackbirds head to Smithfield, R.I. to take on Bryant, Saturday, January 5 at 4 p.m.