- (boxscore)
12/04/04 --
Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas), the defending Northeast
Conference
Rookie of the Year, scored a career-high 27 points to lead
Long Island University to a 93-73 win over Wagner College
in the league opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at
the Spiro Sports Center. Williams netted a career-best seven
three-pointers, one off the program single-game mark (8) set
by Charles Jones versus Wagner in 1998.
All five starters for the Blackbirds (2-2, 1-0 NEC) recorded
double-digit scoring. Freshman Kellen Allen, in his first
collegiate start, scored 16. Junior Aubin Scott (Hempstead,
N.Y.) chipped in 14 points and sophomore Esa Maki-Tulokas
(Forssa, Finland) added 12 and seven rebounds. Freshman Randy
Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) reached double figures for the
first time this season, scoring 12 and handing out nine assists.
The Blackbirds started quickly, scoring the game’s first
seven points. Allen and Williams combined for the team’s
first 14 points and push the advantage to 14-4 with 12:23
remaining. The Seahawks narrowed the margin to three (17-14)
following a 9-3 spurt. Mark Porter tallied four of Wagner’s
nine points during the three-minute run.
LIU countered with a 25-11 surge, going 5-of-9 from the field
to close out the stanza. By the intermission, Allen had 12
points and the Blackbirds led, 42-24.
A triple from Williams at the 18:33 mark of the second half
put the Blackbirds ahead, 49-26. The Seahawks battled back,
forcing four LIU turnovers and running off a 24-9 run to close
to 58-50.
LIU responded with a lay-up from Scott followed by two consecutive
trifectas and a driving basket from Williams to push the advantage
to 18, 68-50 with 10:20 remaining. The Blackbirds, who shot
a sizzling 74.1 percent in the second half, hit 12 of their
last 13 shots of the game en route to the 93-73 road victory.
LIU converted 32-53 from the field (60.4 percent), its best
single-game team field goal percentage since November 28,
1990- a 64.5 percent performance versus Central Connecticut
State. The victory was LIU’s first conference road win
since February 8, 2003, a 99-85 win at Robert Morris.
DeEarnest McLemore paced the Seahawks (1-4, 0-1) with 19 points.
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