College Beat: Murphy cleared to suit up for Brooklyn’s Blackbirds in Nov. 9 Barclays Center opener

October 18, 2012 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
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Northeast Conference Player of the Year Julian Boyd, fresh off having his suspension lifted following his alleged involvement in an on-campus brawl, will have a new running mate next month when the Blackbirds open defense of their back-to-back NEC Championships.

And no, it won’t be Paul Ryan or Joe Biden.

The LIU-Brooklyn Athletic Department announced Monday that redshirt-sophomore transfer student Kahlil Murphy, a New Jersey native, will be eligible to play in new LIU coach Jack Perri’s debut on the bench Nov. 9, when the Blackbirds host Morehead State at the Barclays Center.

“We are excited to have Khalil eligible to compete for us this season,” said Perri, who served as an assistant under Jim Ferry for the previous seven seasons before taking the top spot when Ferry moved on to Duquesne in April.”His versatility and skill level will help provide valuable depth to our frontcourt.”

Murphy, who transferred from the University of San Francisco, where he played in 18 games for the Dons last season, figures to bolster a frontcourt already loaded with talent.

Along with Boyd, the Blackbirds also feature All-NEC selection Jamal Olasewere along the frontline. Murphy, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound forward, helped the Dons to 20 wins last year.

Seniors Boyd, Olasewere, C.J. Garner and sophomore Troy Joseph will all have to sit out the Blackbirds’ first two NEC contests per terms of their school-imposed suspension for the well-chronicled campus brawl. Murphy may play a key role in helping LIU shore up its front court for those games, dates of which have not yet been revealed on the LIU schedule.

The Blackbirds enter this season on a 27-game home winning streak and are coming off their first consecutive conference titles in the program’s rich history.

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Dmitry Prokofyev and Pajtim Gjonbalai scored second-half goals and Xaverian High School alum Stamatis Boundouris made three saves for his third shutout win of the season as Brooklyn College remained unbeaten on its newly constructed home field Monday afternoon with a 2-0 triumph over SUNY Maritime.

“We had a very solid all-around performance today against a good Maritime team,” said BC head coach Rawle Hensford after the Bulldogs improved to 6-0-1 at home and 9-4-2 overall this season with their fourth straight victory. “We controlled the run of play for large segments, had good tempo and created many chances. We were also solid defensively to earn the shutout.”

The Bulldogs, who were scheduled to visit the College of Staten Island on Wednesday, broke a scoreless deadlock when Prokofyev scored in the 56th minute. Gjonbalaj, who attended Brooklyn’s FDR High School, knocked home a rebound just five minutes later to make it 2-0.

The BC women’s squad continued to make big strides during its first season of existence with a 1-0 win over Lehman on Tuesday afternoon in the Bronx.

Sayla Flores scored the game’s lone goal off a feed from fellow freshman and Telecommications High School alum Jillian Protin and senior netminder Melissa St. Louis, formerly of Sheepshead Bay High School, posted the shutout as the Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-5-1 with their third victory in four games.

BC will visit John Jay on Saturday for their CUNYAC regular-season finale at noon.

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Former Fontbonne Hall student Corinne Fitzgibbons was named the top Division III slugger in the nation for her performance last season at Downtown's NYU-Poly campus.  Photo courtesy of NYU-Poly Athletics

NYU-Poly senior Corine Fitzgibbons of Brooklyn’s Fontbonne High School was named the 2012 NCAA Division III Softball Slugging Percentage champion after posting a .958 slugging average for the Fighting Blue Jays last season.

Fitzgibbons, who helped the Jays reach the Skyline Championships with a 27-11 record, is the first NYU-Poly athlete — male or female — to earn a top honor from the NCAA. The hard-hitting first baseman finished sixth in the entire nation with 13 homers. She also batted .504 with 51 RBIs in 36 games.

For her career at the Downtown Brooklyn campus, Fitzgibbons has 37 home runs, 150 RBIs, a .457 batting average and an .890 slugging percentage, pacing the Lady Jays to three straight Skyline Conference playoff appearances and one league title.

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