BROOKLYN, NY—Senior guard Gerrell Martin scored 15 points to lead three double-figure scorers for LIU Brooklyn, which dominated the second half, and ultimately the final score, defeating NJIT 65-49 in men's basketball Sunday afternoon in LIU's Steinberg Wellness Center in downtown Brooklyn.
 
The Blackbirds, who got into the winning column for the first time in their preceding game on December 9 with a 83-70 victory at Maine, made it two in a row on Sunday, as they took over a game that stood at 32-31 for the home team at the half. LIU Brooklyn outscored the visiting Highlanders 33-18 over the final 20 minutes.
 
With its second consecutive win, LIU Brooklyn upped its won-lost record for the season to 2-6. NJIT, which absorbed its second road loss in less than 48 hours, is 4-7.
 
In addition to Martin, who scored 7 points in the first half and 8 in the second, the Blackbirds got 12 total points from freshman guard Martin Hermannsson and 11 points from wide-body redshirt freshman low post player Nura Zanna.
 
Hermannsson, who is one of two freshmen from Iceland starting for LIU Brooklyn, also led the Blackbirds in rebounding with seven. Zanna, who is listed at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, which may be understated, was credited with five rebounds, but he and his teammates on the inside did an excellent job keeping the ball alive after missed shots, which helped the winners to a 46-37 advantage under the backboards.
 
Senior Landon Atterberry, limited to 17 minutes' action by foul trouble, grabbed six rebounds and 6-foot-8 sophomore Glenn Fiedanga added five rebounds in 12 minutes.
 
Point guard Elvar Fridriksson, the other freshman from Iceland, had a game-high five assists for LIU Brooklyn. He also scored eight points and collected five rebounds.
 
NJIT, which had its second-lowest scoring total of the season (lowest was 48 in a 65-48 loss at UAlbany in the third game of the season on November 19), had just one individual double-figure scorer, junior Ky Howard, who finished with 15 points.
 
The Highlanders, who shot 31 percent (18-for-58) from the field in Sunday's game and 26.7 percent (8-for-30) in the second half, also struggled at the foul line, where they were 2-for-9 in the second half after going a decent 7-for-10 in the opening period. The final free throw percentage of .474 (9-for-19) was the worst of the season for NJIT. The previous lowest foul shooting percentage of the season had come in Friday night's loss at Holy Cross, when the Highlanders missed 14 of 32 free throws for a .563 percentage at the line in that 76-66 defeat.
 
In addition to his team-leading 15 points, Howard also topped his team with seven rebounds, which shared game honors with LIU's Hermannsson. The junior Howard's four assists led the Highlanders, as well. Howard, a 6-foot-4 guard, has led or shared the NJIT individual rebounding seven times through 11 games. He has led in assists eight times.
 
There were no other double-figure scorers for the Highlanders aside from Howard, but Damon Lynn and Winfield Willis contributed eight points apiece.
 
Lynn, who had scored at least 11 points in each of the preceding 10 games, was held to single-digit points for the first time this season and four just the fifth time in 40-game Highlander career.
 
Just recently, he had a streak of at least 20 points in four straight that started with a season-high 27 at Duquesne on November 29 through 22 points in a rousing 68-66 home win vs. St. Francis Brooklyn earlier this week). In between, he scored a team-high 20 points in the big win at Michigan. On Sunday, Lynn did all of his scoring in the first half.   
 
In addition to Howard's team-leading seven rebounds, senior Odera Nweke was credited with six rebounds, three of which were credited on tip-ins for all six of his points in the game. Willis and Tim Coleman pulled down five rebounds apiece for the Highlanders and Nweke and Coleman each blocked two shots.
 
Trailing at the half, 32-31, NJIT actually took a small two-point lead twice in the opening minutes of the second half, the latest at 37-35 after Willis connected on a jump shot with 16:12 remaining.
 
The Highlanders still held a one-point advantage until Hermannsson drove from the perimeter into the lane for a layup that put LIU Brooklyn on top, 38-37, with 13:07 left.
 
The Blackbirds would lead the rest of the way and the driving bucket by Hermannsson sparked a 10-0 Blackbird run in a span of less than two minutes.
 
The LIU Brooklyn rally grew to 17-4 in a stretch of less than four minutes and when Martin nailed a 3-pointer at the 6:19 mark, the home team had outscored NJIT 22-6 over the course of 6:48, beginning with Hermannsson layup. Martin's three made the score 60-43 in favor of the Blackbirds who led by at least 14 points the rest of the way.
 
Asked afterwards by a reporter about his team's grueling schedule (including four games in a span of the last eight days, capped by a night game in central Massachusetts Friday and then Sunday afternoon's game in Brooklyn), NJIT coach Jim Engles refused to make any excuses, saying: "LIU outplayed us in just about every phase of the game. There's not much to say beyond that.
 
"We have to do better when certain parts of our game aren't working. If we're having trouble making shots, we have to make defensive stops and get our offense started that way."
 
In each of this weekend's two road losses, the Highlanders stayed close into the second half. But when the home teams made their predictable second-half pushes, NJIT could not find the means to counter surges that ultimately led to the home squads pulling away.
 
On Friday at Holy Cross, NJIT led by two points at the half. Neither team led by more than three past the mid-point of the second half, but then Holy Cross used a 7-0 run in 85 seconds to go up 55-48 and NJIT could not get closer to the lead than seven over the final 6:19.
 
The game-deciding run came earlier on Sunday, with the Blackbirds going ahead to stay for the final 13:07. But the scenario was similar to Friday in Worcester in that what proved to be the winning rally came quickly, opening up what had been nip-and-tuck contest (5 ties and 10 lead changes over the opening 27 minutes).
 
In contrast, just 15 days before the game at LIU Brooklyn, playing in Pittsburgh on five days' rest, NJIT had reached down late to hold off Duquesne of the Atlantic 10 Conference for an 84-81 victory. In that one, Duquesne rallied from down nine with 2:12 left, but the Highlanders still had a counter when the Dukes got back within a point with 37 seconds remaining.
 
A week after Duquesne and eight days before going to LIU, NJIT had the answers to pull off its stunning 72-70 win in Ann Arbor over #17/#16 Michigan. In that one, the Highlanders saw their lead shrink to one or two points nine different times in the last 4:32 and Michigan actually led briefly by a point. Each time, however NJIT answered with a score to withstand the push.
 
NJIT will take a hiatus from its hectic early-season basketball schedule to allow the student-athletes to concentrate on Finals Week.
 
The team will return to competition on Saturday, December 20 at 7 pm in New Britain, CT, against Central Connecticut State. CCSU won the first meeting between the programs, 74-71, in Newark on November 26, 2013.