Box Score BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Gerrell Martin hit a last-second bucket to give LIU Brooklyn a 74-72 victory over the Norfolk State men's basketball team Sunday afternoon at the Steinberg Wellness Center.

The Spartans had the ball in front of their own bench with 16.0 seconds left to set up a potential game-winning shot. Senior Malcolm Hawkins drove down the left side of the lane but into traffic and was unable to get a clean shot off with about six seconds to go.

The Blackbirds corralled the rebound, and Jason Brickman threw a half court pass up to a streaking Martin, who laid it in with less than a second to go. After the officials went to the courtside monitor to double check, the basket was ruled good with no time left on the clock.

LIU Brooklyn (2-4) never led in the second half, and the Blackbirds were down by six with less than two minutes to go. They were still down by two with 21.9 left after Landon Atterberry hit 1-of-2 from the foul line. The Spartans, though, were unable to snare the loose ball on his second free throw attempt, and Atterberry converted a layup after the Blackbirds inbounded the ball to tie it up at 72-all leading into those last-second plays.

Hawkins finished with 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists for NSU (5-3). Senior Brandon Goode tallied 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting with 11 boards, helping the Spartans finish the day 29-of-62 from the field (46.8 percent).

All five Blackbird starters reached double figures, with Martin and Atterberry leading the way with 16 and 15, respectively. LIU Brooklyn shot 12-of-25 from the 3-point line.

Senior Anell Alexis had 16 points and eight boards for NSU, including six points early in the second half to help the Spartans extend their two-point lead from the intermission. A trey from Hawkins from the right corner put the Spartans up 51-46 at the 13:36 mark, and senior Riley Maye gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the second half at 57-50 on a jumper from beyond the free throw line.

The Blackbirds cut the Spartan advantage down to one on yet another trey, this one from Troy Joseph from the right corner at 6:29. Tied at 62-62, Alexis knocked down a trey with the shot clock about to expire to put the Spartans back up with less than four minutes left. The senior hit another 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to go for a six-point advantage, and a fastbreak dunk from Goode with 1:41 left again had Norfolk State up by six.

Joseph drained another trey with a minute and a half left to make it 72-69 in favor of NSU. The Spartans could not convert on their end of the floor despite receiving a fresh shot clock thanks to a Blackbird foul, leading into Atterberry's free throw and layup to tie it up.

LIU Brooklyn's 3-point shooting kept the Blackbirds in the game, as they scored their first 15 points of the contest on 3-pointers to keep it close early on. Back-to-back treys from Hawkins then gave the Spartans a 23-15 advantage at the 10:15 mark of the first half. Atterberry had two straight fastbreaks, and the next bucket by the Blackbirds started a 13-4 run that put them ahead by two.

LIU Brooklyn did not hit a field goal for the last three minutes of the half, and Goode had two last-minute buckets to put the Spartans ahead 36-34 at the break.

In addition to Alexis, Goode and Hawkins, senior Pendarvis Williams also scored in double figures with 14.

Brickman added 10 points with 14 assists, with E.J. Reed (13 points) and Joseph (12) also reaching double figures. The Blackbirds hit 26-of-55 (47.3 percent) for the game.

The Spartans connected on 7-of-19 from the 3-point line.

NSU will face its first conference opponent of the year on Thursday when the Spartans welcome Florida A&M to Joseph Echols Hall at 8 p.m.