Terriers get bounce-back win vs. Lafayette

Hang on for 73-72 thriller after squandering big lead at Fordham

November 12, 2019 JT Torenli

Junior guard Chauncey Hawkins scored all 24 of his points in the second half to lift St. Francis Brooklyn over Lafayette at Remsen Street's Pope Center in the home opener for the Terriers Saturday. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics.

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Just four days removed from a heartbreaking late-game collapse in their season-opening loss at Fordham, the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s basketball team had no interest in seeing history repeat itself Saturday afternoon on Remsen Street.

“We’re not letting that happen again,” insisted junior guard Chauncey Hawkins after scoring all 24 of his points in the second half to help the Terriers pull out a home-opening 73-72 victory over Lafayette in front of 528 fans at the Pope Center.

“Our goal is learn from each and every win, each and every loss,” added Hawkins, who enjoyed celebrating the narrow triumph with his teammates after SFC had blown a 14-point, second-half lead in the Bronx the previous Tuesday.

Hawkins, who finished 7-of-13 from the floor and hit all 10 of his free-throw attempts following intermission, saved his biggest play for last as he swatted a potenial go-ahead 3-pointer off the fingers of Lafayette’s Tyrone Perry with 45 seconds remaining and the Terriers clinging to a two-point lead.

“He let the game come to him early in the game,” noted SFC head coach Glenn Braica of Hawkins. “When the opportunity presented itself, he got hot. I think it was a result of moving the ball early in the game.”

“I was playing a litle bit passive (in the first half),” admitted Hawkins, who also grabbed three rebounds, handed out an assist and blocked a pair of shots in 31 strong minutes. “We made a lot of rookie mistakes, growing pains.”

The Terriers (1-1) almost went to overtime as Lafayette’s E.J. Stephens got to the line to shoot three free throws with 2.5 ticks remaining. But after draining the first two, Stephens missed the third and the ensuing put-back attempt by Myles Cherry missed before the buzzer sounded.

“It was insane out there,” said senior big man Deniz Celen, who had 16 points, five rebounds and three steals to help SFC improve to 1-1 on the young season.

“They made a great run and it was a really close game.We lost the first game, as you know, and I think we really needed this one.”

Grad student guard and Brooklyn native Unique McClean finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for the Terriers, who will try to build on their first win of the season when they visit Farmville, Virginia on Thursday night for their first-ever meeting with Longwood.

But before then, Braica has some details to work out with his team, which has played two very dramatic games to open this campaign.

“I was really proud of our guys for hanging in there and getting the win, but we have to iron out some things,” noted Braica. “After the Fordham game, I was not a happy camper

“I also know we’re not where we need to be and we have to tighten things up. It’s a great win,” he added. “I think our guys were locked in early in the game. We have to learn from these situations and get better.”

Ty Flowers goes up for two of his 19 points during LIU’s home-opening loss to UMass-Lowell last Friday night at Downtown’s Steinberg Wellness Center. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics.

The LIU men’s team suffered an 87-74 loss to visiting UMass Lowell last Friday in its home opener at Downtown’s Steinberg Wellness Center, falling to 0-2 on the season.

Senior Raiquan Clark scored 21 points and junior Ty Flowers added 19 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for the Blackbirds (0-2), who will be in Fairfax, Virginia on Wednesday night to take on George Mason University.

The LIU women will also be 0-2 heading into Wednesday’s home game vs. Fairfield at the Wellness Center after dropping a 79-56 decision at the Universit of Rhode Island last Thursday night.

Brandy Thomas scored 14 points and fellow sophomore Shyla Sanford added 13 for the Blackbirds, who picked up 14 steals in the defeat.

The SFC women’s squad opened its hoops season with three consecutive losses, including Sunday’s 106-69 rout at the hands of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachussetts.

Senior guard Jade Johnson scored a team-high 17 points for the Terriers (0-3), who will try once again to get off the schneid when they host Army Wednesday night at the Pope Center.

From the hardwood to the pitch, the SFC men’s soccer team saw its hopes of returning to the Northeast Conference Tournament for the first time in three seasons dashed when it suffered a 3-0 loss at LIU in Brookville, N.Y., on Sunday.

The Terriers simply needed a win to enter the four-team playoff for the right to advance to the NCAA Regionals, but Fridtjof Andberg’s header off a throw-in got past SFC freshman goalie Callum James in the 29th minute and from there the Sharks rolled into the conference tourney as the No. 2 seed.

Xavier Verdu and Jonas Dovland also scored for LIU, which won last year’s NEC crown here in Downtown Brooklyn before moving out to the Long Island campus at the start of this year.

The Terriers had won four of the previous six NEC titles before failing to make the playoffs in each of the last two campaigns.