Men's Basketball Wins Season Opener, 66-56 Over Lehigh

(boxscore)

11/21/04 -- Junior Aubin Scott (Hempstead, N.Y.) closed with 13 points and 11 rebounds with sophomore Esa Maki-Tulokas (Forssa, Finland) adding 11 and 10 for Long Island, which rode red-shot shooting en route to a 66-56 season-opening triumph over Lehigh at Schwartz Center.

The Blackbirds (1-0) pulled away in the second half thanks to a 14-4 run to open a 51-34 lead with 9:45 left. Maki-Tulokas netted five points, including a 3-pointer, and Kellen Allen (Mansfield, Texas) added four in his first collegiate game. The margin grew to 57-39 later in the half and the Mountain Hawks (0-2) could get no closer than the final.

Scott shot 4-of-5 from the floor over 39 minutes for his first career double-double and Maki-Tulokas played solidly over 37 minutes for his second double-double. Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas), last season’s Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, poured in 13 points and Allen played solidly on both sides of the floor by closing with 10 points and five drawn charges.

LIU shot 51 percent (23-of-45) overall, including 52 percent (12-of-23) in the opening half when it grabbed a 34-24 lead. Scott scored seven points during a half-ending 25-10 run over 10 minutes with freshman Paulius Morkeliunas (Roanoke, Va.) adding five.

Morkeliunas finished with nine points for the Blackbirds, who moved to 51-20 in season openers and notched their second triumph to open a campaign since upsetting St. John’s in 1996. LIU also improved to 40-4 in season openers at home.

Jose Olivero (Fairfax, Va.) scored 14 points and Jason Mgebroff (Kent, Wash.) netted 12 for Lehigh, which shot 36 percent (21-of-59) overall.

LIU opens a five-game road trip Wednesday against Columbia, beginning at 7:00 pm.