Williams' 24 Points Carries Men's Basketball Past Fairleigh Dickinson, 85-80

(boxscore)

2/15/07 -- Senior James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) scored a game-high 24 points and lifted the Long Island University men’s basketball team to an 85-80 win over Fairleigh Dickinson at Stratis Arena on Thursday evening. The Blackbirds overcame a slow start to keep their Northeast Conference postseason aspirations alive, while snapping a 10-game losing streak to the Knights in the process.

After freshman Aurimas Adomaitis (Kaunas, Lithuania) opened the scoring for Long Island, but Fairleigh Dickinson quickly built a 7-3 lead early on. Williams answered by hitting his first five field goals and scoring 13 straight points for LIU to bring the visitors within one point and a dunk from sophomore Donovin McLendon (Miami, Fla.) gave LIU its first lead at 18-17.

After the Knights drew within 24-23 on a three-pointer from Eric Hazard, the Blackbirds took control with a 13-0 run midway through the first half. Junior Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) scored eight straight points to cap the spurt and gave LIU a 37-23 lead with a three-pointer at the 5:24 mark. Long Island eventually finished the half with a 43-31 lead after shooting 51.5 percent in the opening period.

Fairleigh Dickinson opened the second stanza with six straight points to draw within 43-37, but sophomore Tyrone Mattison (Toronto, Ontario) squelched the run with eight consecutive points of his own and following a layup from junior Paska Morkeliunas (Kaunas, Lithuania) Long Island took its largest lead of the game at 53-38 with 14:21 to play.

In a replay of their first meeting this season, the Blackbirds held a double-digit lead midway through the second half, but the Knights made it interesting with a late comeback. Manny Ubilla scored eight points during a three-minute span and got FDU within 64-62 at the 6:54 mark, but a pair of layups from freshman Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, N.Y.) bookended a run for LIU that pushed the lead to 74-64 with just over four minutes to play.

Long Island held the lead with foul shooting down the stretch, but the Knights’ Michael Peeples converted a three-point play to draw FDU within 82-80 with 12 seconds to play. That was as close as it got, however, as Kotorobai hit three foul shots down the stretch to seal the win for Long Island.

Williams finished the night 9-of-13 from the floor, including 4-for-7 from the arc, as LIU shot 51.7 percent as a team. Kotorobai chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds. Adomaitis added 15 points and Mattison finished with 12 points and eight boards off the bench.

Andre Harris led FDU with 22 points, while Peeples chipped in with 20 points. Ubilla added 15 points and Cameron Tyler had eight points, eight rebounds and nine assists. The Knights shot just 5-for-26 (.192) from three-point range in the game.

Long Island (9-16, 5-9) will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 17, with a 4:00 p.m. game against Quinnipiac as part of a doubleheader with the women’s team. LIU will also honor its 2007 Hall of Fame inductees at halftime of the men’s game.