Williams Cracks Top Ten on LIU All-Time Scoring List But Blackbirds Fall to Binghamton, 91-80

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12/15/05 -- Senior James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) tallied a season-high 22 points, including five three-pointers, but Long Island University could not hang on to a double-digit halftime lead and dropped a 91-80 decision to Binghamton on Friday evening at the Events Center.

Williams' point total vaulted him past a trio of former Blackbirds and into ninth place on the all-time Long Island scoring list at 1,420 points. The 5-foot-10 guard passed Albie Grant (1953-66), Ruben Rodriguez (1972-75) and former NCAA rebounding champion Carey Scurry (1982-85) for the ninth spot and stands 15 points away from Sherman White (1948-51) at the No. 8 position.

After heading into halftime with a 41-29 advantage, the Blackbirds twice extended their lead to 17 early in the second period. Williams nailed a three pointer to give LIU a 48-31 lead and after two Bearcat free throws, a layup by junior Paska Morkeliunas (Kaunas, Lithuania) off a feed from Williams gave Long Island a 50-33 cushion with 14:58 remaining.

Binghamton would slowly chip away at the lead and cut its deficit to four after a pair of foul shots by Richard Forbes at the 8:04 mark. But eight points in a 1 minute, six second span by Williams would push LIU's lead back up to nine at 72-63 with 6:52 left in the game.

From there, the Bearcats would go on a 21-5 run over the next six and a half minutes that would extinguish the Long Island lead and aid Binghamton to victory. BU made seven of its eight shots from the floor during the span, including a trio of three-pointers. Forbes led the way with eight during the stretch and finished the game with a team-high 19 points off the bench. Troy Hailey also finished with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

LIU shot well from the floor in the first half, connecting on 58.3 percent of its shot attempts. With the game tied at 10-10, back-to-back three pointers by sophomore Donovin McLendon (Miami, Fla.) and freshman Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, N.Y.) capped an 8-0 run that gave the Blackbirds an 18-10 lead. Long Island would lead by as many as 15 in the opening stanza. Four points to end the period by Wisseh pushed LIU in front by 12 to close the half. Wisseh closed with 13 of his career-best 18 points in the period.

The Blackbirds will take on St. Peter's following a two-week break on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 1:00 p.m in Jersey City, N.J.