Men’s Basketball Clipped By Quinnipiac In Final Seconds, 70-68

(boxscore)

2/17/07 --A coast-to-coast layup by Quinnipiac’s Chris Wehye with six seconds to play lifted the visitors over Long Island University, 70-68, in men’s basketball action at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletics Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Blackbirds took a 68-62 lead on senior James Williams’ (DeSoto, Texas) three-pointer with 1:54 to play, but that was their final bucket as the Bobcats rattled off an 8-0 run to close the game. DeMario Anderson’s jumper with 30 seconds to play tied at 68-68. LIU had a chance to take the lead or win, but Wehye came up with the steal and converted a layup at the other end for the winning basket. Sophomore Tyrone Mattion’s (Toronto, Ontario) last-second shot to tie was off the mark.

Williams led all scorers with 19 points, while freshman Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 12 points. Mattison and juniors Paska Morkeliunas (Kaunas, Lithuania) and Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) each finished with 11 points. Morkeliunas and Kotorobai collected 10 rebounds apiece to lead all players.

Long Island jumped out to an 11-0 lead to open the game, while holding Quinnipiac scoreless on its first nine shots. Kotorobai led the early charge with five quick points, while Williams’ three-pointer at the 14:43 mark gave LIU its largest lead of the day. The Bobcats finally got on the board with Victor Akinyanju’s layup at 14:27 and eventually tied it at 15-15 on a jumper from DeMario Anderson at the seven-minute mark.

Quinnipiac took its first lead of the day at 18-16 on a three-pointer from Adam Gonzalez, but LIU answered back with a three-pointer of its own from Kotorobai on the next possession. A trifecta from Gonzalez at the 3:41 mark put QU ahead 25-20, but LIU managed to claw back and level the score by halftime at 28-28 following a foul shot from senior Esa Maki-Tulokas (Forssa, Finland).

Van Crafton hit three treys to open the scoring for Quinnipiac in the second half and a layup from Karl Anderson made it 43-35 with 13:38 to play to give the Bobcats their largest lead of the day. LIU tied it at 56-56 after converting all four fouls following a personal foul and technical foul assessed to Gonzalez.

A driving layup from Mattison gave LIU a 62-60 lead at the 3:33 mark, but a technical foul on the play allowed Quinnipiac to level the score. Williams answered with five points during a 6-0 spurt for LIU and his three-pointer with 1:54 gave the Blackbirds their final lead at 68-62.

Quinnipiac (12-12, 10-5) was led in scoring by Gonzalez and DeMario Anderson, who scored 16 points apiece. The Bobcats held a 40-37 advantage on the boards and shot 44.8 percent as a team.

Long Island (9-17, 5-10) hosts Monmouth on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wellness, Recreations and Athletics Center. LIU’s four seniors will be honored during a pregame ceremony.