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Dayton, OH -- The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team was within two points of Radford in the final five minutes at the First Four opening game Tuesday night at the University of Dayton Arena, but the Highlanders would end the game on a 10-2 run, beating the Blackbirds 71-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. LIU concludes the season with an 18-17 overall record.
 
Sophomore Jashaun Agosto led the Blackbirds with 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Junior Raiquan Clark had 14 points, and sophomore Julian Batts had 13 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
 
The game was close throughout, until the Highlanders pulled away late. Coach Derek Kellogg was proud of the way his squad battled, despite the result.

"I wanted to let the guys know and the administration and staff at LIU how proud I am of our team," Kellogg said in the post game press conference.  "We had to battle through some adversity throughout the year and continue to push and fight forward. What a really great group of kids who represented our university at the highest level.We didn't come away with a victory today but I thought we played our hearts out. I thought they gave everything they had, like they did all season long. And I'm just happy to be a part of this LIU family and head coach of this team for the season."
 
Radford came out early, and went up on the Blackbirds 8-3. LIU was slow to get their offense going, but stayed closed to the Highlanders. A layup from Agosto at 15:23, followed by a jump shot from senior Joel Hernandez, and the Blackbirds had cut the gap to 8-7. Senior Zach Coleman would have back to back layups to keep LIU in the game, and then Clark would score five straight points, including a three-pointer that cut the gap to 20-16. Hernandez would give the Blackbirds a spark late in the first half, hitting a long three with 38 seconds left that pulled LIU within two at the halftime break, 30-28.
 
LIU came out strong in the second half, using two free throws from Batts and a jumper from Agosto that kept them within one of the Highlanders, 33-32. Just 30 seconds later, Coleman hit a huge three that tied the game, 35-35. And 20 seconds after that, Batts hit a huge three pointer that would give LIU its first lead of the game, 38-35.
 
The Highlanders would answer with a 7-2 run, however, that put them back on top, 44-38 with 13:49 to play in the game.  The Blackbirds continued to battle back, thanks in part to back-to-back threes from Batts around the seven-minute mark. The 6-0 run by the sophomore closed the lead back down to two points, and just two minutes later, free throws from Agosto had the Blackbirds with one, 59-58 with 5:07 to play. But Radford took advantage of a lull in LIU's shooting to retake the momentum, as Agosto observed after the game.

"I mean, we needed to bring energy from the start," Agosto said. "They came with energy. We came with a little energy but they hit us with the first punch. So they were ahead for the majority of the game, and then we brought a different type of energy and that's when we got up. Then we kind of slipped back down and they got ahead."
 
Radford went on a 7-2 run that spanned three minutes, eventually going up, 68-59 on the Blackbirds. Though the Highlanders had some foul trouble and LIU would go to the line often, it wouldn't be enough as the clock ran down, and Radford took the win, 71-61. The Highlanders advance to face No. 1 seed Villanova in the Pittsburgh regional of the NCAA tournament.