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Brooklyn, NY - Long Island used a 21-5 run that bridged the two halves while turning a seven-point first-half deficit into a nine-point lead with just over 17 minutes remaining in the second half en route to a 78-73 win over Wagner in the Northeast Conference (NEC) opener for both teams. The Blackbird spurt which led to a 44-35 lead at the 17:07 mark of the second lasted 7:39 and answered the largest Seahawk lead (30-23) of the night.

Senior Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario / Eastern Commerce) led the all scorers with 19 points to go along with nine rebounds and three steals. The Canadian native went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and is now shooting a blistering 65.6 percent (21-32) from long range on the year. Murray also hit for double-figures for the seventh-straight time to start the year and has done so 26-straight times and in 42-of-44 dating back to his sophomore year.

The Green & White will look to rebound on Saturday, December 3 when St. Francis (NY) invades the Spiro Sports Center for a 7:00 pm contest. The game will be broadcast by Time Warner Cable and can be accessed live in Staten Island on channel 76 and in Manhattan on channel 199.

With the loss, Wagner has its four-game winning streak snapped as the Seahawks fall to 5-2 (0-1 NEC) on the young season while LIU improves to 3-4 (1-0 NEC) in collecting its 20th win in 21 games against conference competition dating back to last season.

Both teams shot under 40 percent for the game but the Blackbirds were able to take command of the game thanks to a 21-7 advantage in made free throws while limiting the Green & White to just 32.0 percent (8-25) shooting from beyond the arc.

Joining Murray in double-figures were junior Jonathon Williams (Richmond, CA / Kennedy / C.C. of San Francisco) (16 points), sophomore Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) (12 points) and senior Chris Martin (Sicklerville, NJ / Apex Academies) (10 points).

The game was a back-and-forth effort in the opening stanza as there were four ties and four lead changes. After Jamal Olasewere opened the scoring with an old-fashioned three-point play, Murray, who came in second in the NCAA ranks with a 64.0 percent conversion rate from long range, drained a pair of three pointers in staking Wagner to a quick 6-3 lead.

LIU would rally to with a 10-2 run in assuming a 13-8 lead with 15:40 to go following a three-point play from Julian Boyd.

The Seahawks would continue to keep it close before ripping off a 10-1 run that spanned 4:39, en route to jumping out to a 30-23 lead while forcing a Blackbird timeout at the 4:56 mark of the first half. Williams started the spurt with a pair of lay-ups before Booker Hucks momentarily stopped the bleeding with a free throw. Martin then sank a pair from the line, freshman Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) drilled a jumper from the top of the key and sophomore Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham and Monson Academy (MA)) capped the spurt with a layup off an offensive rebound in giving the Green & White its largest lead over LIU since the 2007-2008 season.

The Blackbirds then scored six-straight points, helping to fuel a half-ending 13-2 spurt.

Wagner struck first to open the second half with a well-executed play as Murray drained a three pointer on a curl play at the top of the key off a pass from Rivers. However, as would be the story for most of the night, LIU answered with a pair of field goals off offensive rebounds that fueled an 8-0 run to make the score 44-35 with 17:07 to play.

Williams answered with a pair of layups to get the deficit to five, only to have the Blackbirds answer with a Kenny Onyechi layup. The Green & White would continue to fight, using a 6-0 spurt midway through the second to get within four at 51-47 with 11:32 to play following a Martin three pointer. Arnold Mayorga answered with three-straight free throws to push the lead back out to seven as Wagner could get no closer than five points the rest of the way.

LIU would build the lead up to a game-high 15 at 69-54 with 3:29 to play before holding off a late-charging Wagner squad by a 78-73 score.

Olasewere scored 18 points while pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds to lead four double-digit scorers for the Blackbirds. Garner notched all 15 of his points after halftime while Jason Brickman and Julian Boyd each also recorded 11 points, rounding out the top performers for LIU.

NOTES
* Folahan recorded five of his game-high six blocks in the first half and now has 13 over the last three games. For the year, he is averaging 2.6 blocks per game.

* Williams notched double-figures for the second-straight game and is averaging 17.5 points per game on 15-of-30 shooting (.500) while pulling down 6.5 rebounds per game during that time.

* Murray narrowly missed his third career double-double and his 11th 20-point game, finishing with 19 points and a season-high nine rebounds. He is also converting a school-record 43.5 percent (136-313) from long range for his career.

* Murray is also leading the team in scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (4.9 rpg).

* Williams has matched Murray on the glass, pulling down 4.9 rebounds per game to go along with 12.7 points per game.

* Wagner pulled down a season-best 49 rebounds and are the most by the Seahawks since the Green & White grabbed 51 caroms in a 78-67 win over Fairleigh Dickinson (2/28/08).

* Wagner also notched a season-high eight blocks while recording at least 10 steals for the third time this year.

* The Seahawks have dropped three-straight and six-of-seven to LIU since the 2008-2009 season.

* The Green & White's top three scorers (Murray, Williams and Rivers) accounted for 47 of Wagner's 73 points.

* Rivers, like Murray, has hit for double-figures in all seven games.

* Northeast Conference President Noreen Morris (@NECcommish) was in attendance.