STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team played a game that saw wild swings throughout, with the Wagner Seahawks coming out on top in the end, 71-59. With the loss, LIU moves to 10-12 overall, and 4-6 in the Northeast Conference.  Sophomore Ty Flowers led LIU with 19 points, while senior Raiquan Clark had a double double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds and senior Raul Frias added 14 points.
 
The Blackbirds went up early in the contest, scoring first, but the Seahawks would make back-to-back three pointers to take the 6-3 lead, eventually widening that lead with another three, to 9-5. But Clark would score four straight points to tie it up, and the two teams stayed locked from there.
 
Senior Raul Frias would give the Blackbirds a spark off the bench. His first play of the game, he made a three, and the next time down the court, Frias would steal the ball on defense, and draw a foul on the fast break. He made both free throws, giving LIU a 14-13 lead at the 13-minute mark. Flowers and junior Julian Batts would both hit threes over the next few minutes, that would push LIU's lead to 21-17 with 8:34 to play.
 
But at that point, Wagner went on a 9-0 run that spanned the next three minutes, and put the home team up, 26-21 with four and a half minutes to play. It was the Blackbirds, though, that would finish the half on a 13-4 run, including going 8-for-9 from the free throw line. That run gave them a 34-30 lead at the halftime break.
 
LIU came out and continued that run in the second half, outscoring Wagner in the opening minutes, 7-3, to help widen the lead to 41-33. But over the next two minutes, the home team answered, scoring eight unanswered points, with help from four LIU turnovers in that span, to tie the game back up, 41-41. The run would eventually extend to 15-2, giving the Seahawks a 48-43 lead with 12 minutes to play.

But as was the theme throughout, LIU would answer with a run of its own. Sparked by another three from Frias, LIU would score nine straight points to retake the lead, 52-48, with 9:34 to play. In the end, however, the run by Wagner in the final nine minutes would make the difference. The Seahawks rallied to outscore LIU 12-1 over the next four minutes, taking a 60-53 lead. Though Flowers would convert a traditional three-point play to bring the Blackbirds back within four points, Wagner ended the game by outscoring LIU 11-3, all of which came at the free throw line, giving the Seahawks the 71-59 win.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Sophomore Ty Flowers led LIU with 19 points, along with eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior Raiquan Clark had his fifth double double of the season, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, along with a team-high five assists. Senior Raul Frias was the only other Blackbird in double digits, with 14 points.
• Wagner had four players in double figures, led by 17 points from Romone Saunders.
• The Seahawks were near perfect from the free throw line for most of the contest, with a team free throw percentage of 100 at the half, and 77.1 percent for the game. 27 of Wagner's points came from the charity stripe. The Seahawks also scored 23 of their points off of LIU's 18 turnovers.
• Up next, the Blackbirds host Mount St. Mary's in downtown Brooklyn, Thursday, February 7 at 7 p.m.