Staten Island, N.Y. – The Long Island University men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought affair to Wagner, 68-65, on Thursday night at the Spiro Sports Center. Sophomore Jaytornah Wisseh (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all scorers with 28 points, while senior Kellen Allen (Mansfield, Texas) chipped in with 21.
The Blackbirds trailed 59-54, but Wisseh scored six points in an 8-3 run that tied the game at 62-62 with 3:07 to play. Four straight points gave the Seahawks a four-point advantage with 1:41 to play, but a three-pointer by Wisseh with 10 seconds left got the Blackbirds within 66-65.
Wagner stretched the lead to three following a pair of foul shots, but LIU had one last possession. Wisseh pushed the ball up the court and found senior Eugene Kotorobai (Richmond Hill, Ontario) for a three-pointer, but his attempt was long and the Seahawks held on for the win to avenge their only Northeast Conference loss of the year, suffered at LIU on Jan. 17.
LIU (10-10, 2-7 NEC) trailed by one at the break, but came out and scored four consecutive points on layups by junior Ron Manigault (New York, N.Y.) and Wisseh to take a 37-34 lead. The Seahawks tied it on the next possession, one of 10 ties in the contest, and eventually pushed the lead to 49-41. The Blackbirds responded with a 13-2 run, powered by Wisseh and Allen. A three-pointer by Wisseh gave LIU a 54-51 lead, the 16th and final lead change of the night.
Wisseh accounted for 23 of his points after halftime. Allen grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and carried the offensive load in the first half, scoring 16 points. Kotorobai grabbed eight rebounds to aid a strong rebounding effort for LIU, where it held a 39-31 edge.
Wagner (15-5, 8-1 NEC) was led by 24 points from Mark Porter and 18 from Joey Mundweiler. Jamal Smith chipped in with 14 points, as the Seahawks were able to overcome a two-point, four-rebound effort from Durell Vinson, the team leader in both categories.
Long Island jumped out to an early 12-5 lead led by five points apiece from Wisseh and Allen. After a foul shot from Allen made it 13-7, Wagner ran off seven straight points to take a one-point lead midway through the half.
The Seahawks stretched the lead to 25-20 after Mundweiler hit his third three-pointer of the half, but the Blackbirds came back to tie it on a lay-in by Allen. Following a three-pointer from Jamal Smith, LIU freshman Kyle Johnson (Ajax, Ontario) converted a put-back to make it 34-33 at halftime.
Long Island returns home on Saturday, Feb. 2, to host Monmouth in a 4:00 p.m. contest.
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