Senior
Achraf Yacoubou scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to visiting
Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) to a hard-fought 81-62 win over
Holy Trinity (Hicksville, N.Y.). Jordan Allen added 14 points for the Crusaders. Senior Tyler Seidman scored 18 to lead the Titans.
Paced by four points each from Seidman and senior Rich Bess, the Titans ran out to a 13-8 lead. But, the Crusaders would come back to tie the game at 21-21 as the first quarter came to an end.
The Crusaders jumped to a 37-30 lead midway through the second quarter. But, Trinity kept it close. Senior Tom Botsaris hit a three pointer in the final seconds of the half to cut Long Island Lutheran's lead to 41-36 at the half.
The Crusaders broke the game open in the third quarter when they outscored the Titans 19-7. The Hofstra-bound Allen led the Crusaders with eight points in the quarter as Lutherans took a commanding 60-43 lead into the final quarter.
Despite facing one of the state's top teams, Holy Trinity showed no quit in the final eight minutes. Yacoubou, who will play collegiately at Villanova, and the Crusaders were just too much for the Titans. Yacoubou scored 10 points in the fourth as the Crusaders put the game away.
With the loss the Titans fall to 1-3 overall. This will serve as a good tune up for the Titans as they will begin league play at the beginning of January.
