Box Score
Easton, Pa. – The Long Island University men’s basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Lafayette squad and fell, 77-63, on Saturday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center. Despite shooting 50 percent from three-point range, the Blackbirds were done in by a 12-0 Leopards run in the first half and were never able to regain the lead.
LIU (4-5) opened the game hitting three straight three-pointers from juniors
David Hicks and
Kyle Johnson and sophomore
Michael Culpo. A layup by senior
Jaytornah Wisseh gave the Blackbirds a 13-12 lead before Lafayette responded with a 12-0 run to take control of the opening half. Jim Mower powered the run, scoring eight straight points capped off by consecutive three-pointers to make it 24-13 at the 8:36 mark. Johnson managed to halt the run with a three-pointer and LIU got back within eight eventually, but the Leopards went into the break with a 38-27 lead.
Back-to-back field goals by Wisseh to open the second half cut the deficit to 41-31, but another three-pointer by Mower ignited a 10-0 run that quickly pushed the lead to 51-31. A three-pointer by Nick Petkovich gave Lafayette (6-5) its largest lead of the day.
The Blackbirds tried to climb back into it with a 13-3 spurt of their own. Wisseh hit two short field goals and Johnson followed with two three-pointers before Culpo hit another trifecta to make it 54-44 with 11:29 to play. Lafayette put the game away by outscoring LIU 10-1 over the next 3:13 and eventually pushed the lead to as much as 75-54. Hicks brough Long Island back for the final margin with three straight three-pointer sin the closing minutes.
Wisseh finished with a team-high 18 points and eight assists. Johnson and Hicks contributed 15 points apiece and Culpo poured in 10 points off the bench. Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. LIU was 13-of-26 from behind the arc, but finished the day shooting just 22-of-61 (.361) overall.
Mower led the way with a career-high 25 points and scored 14 of them in the first half when Lafayette shot 53.3 percent from the field. The Leopards finished the day shooting .463 overall and .478 (11-of-23) from three-point range. The victory gave head coach Fran O’Hanlon his 200th career victory.
Following a week off, Long Island will return to action at home against Manhattan on Saturday, Dec. 19, at 7:00 p.m.