Brooklyn, N.Y. (February 5, 2009)—Long Island hit 18-of-20 at the foul line over the final 6:25 to hold off Mount St. Mary's, 76-70, in Northeast Conference action on Thursday night, to snap the Mount's eight-game win streak.

The Mount scored five straight points to cut Long Island's lead to 58-56 with 6:49 left in the game. Jeremy Goode (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) converted a traditional three-point play and then fed Markus Mitchell (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) for a fast-break lay-up after a steal to make it a two-point game.

The Blackbirds (11-11, 7-4 NEC) answered with a Jaytornah Wisseh jumper, a pair of free throws from Kyle Johnson and a Julian Boyd foul shot to take a 63-56 advantage. From there, the Blackbirds used strong free throw shooting to hold the Mount at bay.

Boyd paced Long Island with 18 points and seven boards while Johnson added 17 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. Wisseh (15), David Hicks (12) and Lucas Faggiano (10) also reached double figures in the win.

For the Mount, Sam Atupem (Newport News, Va./Woodside) finished with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Kelly Beidler (Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood) added 13 points and six boards while Jean Cajou (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI) added 12 points and five assists. Goode chipped in 11 points and three steals for the Mountaineers (13-10, 8-4 NEC).

Long Island hit 26-of-28 (.929) at the foul line in the second half and converted 29-of-32 (.906) from the charity stripe in the game. The Mount shot 39.1 percent in the contest and hit 12-of-19 (.632) at the line.

It was a slow start for the Mount in the first half as Long Island took a 14-9 advantage midway through the first stanza. The Blackbirds held the Mount without a field goal for a stretch of eight minutes during that run.

The Mount trailed 25-20 late in the half before Pierre Brown (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mount a 26-25 advantage with 1:25 on the clock. Long Island's David Hicks responded with a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock on the next possession to earn the lead back.

Atupem hit all five of his field goal attempts in the first half for the Mount for 10 points. The rest of the Mountaineers, however, made just 4-of-25 (16.0 percent) from the field as the team shot 30.0 percent in the first half. The Blackbirds shot 38.7 percent in the opening half.

Mount St. Mary's heads to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 7:00 p.m. game on Saturday night.

Game Notes...Long Island snapped a six-game losing streak to the Mountaineers with the win...The Blackbirds have won eight straight at home..