Long Island Men’s Basketball Stumbles at Saint Francis (Pa.), 72-56

(box score)

2/24/07 -- The Long Island men’s basketball team was dealt a serious blow to its posteason playoff hopes in a 72-56 loss to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday night at the DeGol Arena. The Blackbirds had won three-of-four to get back in the Northeast Conference playoff race, but were unable to get any momentum in the loss to the Red Flash.

The Blackbirds struggled out of halftime, hitting just two field goals in the first six minutes as the Red Flash outscored LIU 8-5 in the span and went ahead, 47-35. An old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore Tyrone Mattison (Toronto, Ontario) cut the deficit to 47-38 at the 13:56 mark.

Mattison’s three-point play was LIU’s only bucket during a crucial four-minute span. Saint Francis took advantage of LIU’s struggles and built a 55-38 lead led by six points from Devin Sweetney, who capped the run with a dunk at the 10:00 mark. Senior James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) scored five straight to end the scoring drought and make it 55-43, but that was as close as the Blackbirds got the rest of the way.

Saint Francis pushed the lead to as much as 68-46 before cutting the final margin on five foul shots down the stretch. LIU was held to just seven field goals in the second half, five of them coming from Williams. The Red Flash also used a 23-14 rebounding edge to pull away after halftime.

Saint Francis took the lead early on, but a basket by sophomore Donovin McLendon (Miami, Fla.) at the 14:25 brought LIU to within 14-12. The Red Flash responded by rattling off the next six points, capped by a Cale Nelson three-pointer to stretch the lead to 20-12.

Long Island battled back and drew within 20-19 on a three-pointer from Williams before LIU took its first lead of the night at 24-23 on a short jumper from Mattison. Saint Francis used a run of seven-straight points to go ahead 34-32, before LIU got six straight of its own to pull within two points. The Red Flash, however, closed out the half scoring the final seven points and took a 39-32 lead into the break thanks to a 65 percent shooting effort.

Williams led all scorers with 27 points and was the only Blackbird in double-figures. McLendon and Mattison finished with nine points apiece. Eugene Kotorobai, LIU’s second-leading scorer, was held scoreless on 0-for-3 shooting.

Saint Francis had three scorers in double-figures, paced by Nelson’s 19 points, to go along with seven assists and five boards. Sweetney contributed 13 points and 11 boards, while Jelani Lawrence finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Blackbirds close out the regular season on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. against Robert Morris in Moon Township, Pa. LIU must win against RMU and needs a loss from Monmouth in order to make the playoffs.