BROOKLYN, New York — The LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds canned 10 of 12 free throws in the final 4 minutes, 24 seconds to hold off the Maine Black Bears 84-79 in men’s basketball action Thursday night.
Forward Jerome Frink hit 9 of 11 field goals and finished with 25 points to lead LIU. Guard Martin Hermannsson chipped in with 23 points and guard Aakim Saintil added 12. Forward Nura Zanna grabbed 11 rebounds and Frink had nine to help the Blackbirds gain a 43-39 team advantage.
Guard Aaron Calixte sparked the Black Bears with 18 points and guard Kevin Little added 15. Forward Devine Eke contributed with 14 points and 12 rebounds while forward Issac Vann added 11 points.
Little also had five assists and swingman Garet Beal contributed nine points and three assists.
The Blackbirds improved to 2-0 while the Bears slipped to 0-2.
LIU built an eight-point lead with 5:26 left in the game, but the Bears responded with a 7-0 surge to cut it to 68-67 with 4:24 remaining. Little led the surge with five points and Eke added a dunk.
LIU answered with a layup from Zanna with 3:10 left and two free throws by Frink to up its lead to 72-67 with 2:54 left.
Eke tapped in a rebound to cut it back to three but Hermannsson hit a layup with 1:59 left to restore the five-point lead.
The Black Bears then committed two costly turnovers and missed two field goals over the next minute and a Frink dunk gave LIU a 76-69 lead with 47 seconds remaining.
The Blackbirds hit 6 of 6 free throws in the last 22 seconds to seal the win while a last-second 3-pointer by Calixte accounted for the final margin.
LIU outscored the Bears 45-38 in the second half after Maine had taken a 41-39 halftime lead behind eight points each from Little and Till Gloger.