Surging LIU-Brooklyn basketball still alive for top seed

Blackbirds Visit First-Place Mount Hoping to Grab No. 1 Spot in NEC Tourney

February 21, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

LIU-Brooklyn Head coach Jack Perri and senior Iverson Fleming exhale after holding off Sacred Heart at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday. Photo courtesy of LIU-Brooklyn athletics

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It’s still a bit of a long shot, but the way the LIU-Brooklyn men’s basketball team has been playing of late, it’s getting harder and harder to count them out.

Buoyed by a recent four-game winning streak, the red-hot Blackbirds will visit Northeast Conference-leading Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland on Thursday night with a legitimate chance to climb back into the hunt for grabbing the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming league tournament.

Those hopes would have been dashed for good against visiting Sacred Heart on Saturday at the Steinberg Wellness Center if not for a career night by sophomore and recently named NEC Player of the Week Raiquan Clark, and a huge blocked shot by senior Iverson Fleming.

Clark scored a career-best 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting before Fleming, who poured in a game-high 24 points, snuffed out the Pioneers’ final hope to steal the contest, rising up to swat a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Charles Tucker Jr. at the buzzer as the Blackbirds held on for a critical 83-82 win.

With the dramatic victory, LIU improved to 18-11 overall and, much more importantly, 11-5 in NEC play, meaning the Blackbirds are two games behind the Mount (13-3) with two regular-season games remaining.

Having already secured a tournament spot and home-court advantage in the quarterfinals, which will take place in Downtown Brooklyn on March 1, the Blackbirds need to beat the Mount on Thursday night, then travel to Wagner on Saturday and win another game while the Pioneers lose to visiting St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday.

Though other tiebreakers beyond LIU’s control may still have to work out for them to grab the top overall seed, the Blackbirds can take an important first step toward their ultimate goal, a return to the NCAA Tournament, on Thursday night in Emmitsburg.

None of that seemed even remotely possible on Feb. 4, when the Blackbirds suffered their third consecutive NEC loss here against St. Francis University. But LIU responded by knocking off Bryant in overtime and holding off Fairleigh Dickinson before last week’s two-game run.

Clark’s late-season emergence as a major contributor has keyed an attack that was previously spearheaded by Fleming and fellow senior and NEC Player of the Year candidate Jerome Frink

The former walk-on, who was upgraded to scholarship status last summer, scored a career-high 16 points in the annual Battle for Brooklyn game on Remsen Street last Thursday night before besting that effort in Saturday’s key tilt with Sacred Heart.

He hit all but two of his 14 field-goal attempts in the two-game stretch, adding seven rebounds and a pair of steals to grab his first Player of the Week honor.

LIU has already secured its first home game in the NEC tourney since winning it all for a record third straight season back in 2013. But judging by the looks of their recent run, they aren’t quite satisfied with the achievement just yet.

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The Blackbirds’ women’s squad kept its faint hopes of joining the men in the NEC Championships by beating SFC Brooklyn, 62-58, at the Pope Center on Monday.

Senior Shanovia Dove dominated the second half, scoring 21 of her game-high 31 points after intermission as LIU improved to 4-12 in league action, remaining one game behind the Terriers in the hunt for the final postseason spot with two regular-season games remaining.

Olivia Levey scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds while fellow senior Rachel Iozzia added a career-high 15 points for the Terriers, who hope to secure their tourney spot this coming Sunday at Central Connecticut State.

“Now, instead of being in control of your destiny, the destiny is up in the air,” SFC head coach John Thurston said of the Terriers’ tenuous playoff chances.

“Let’s see what happens through the last weekend. So much of what happens now is out of our control. Hats off to Liv and Rachel, they played their best games of their careers really.”

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The LIU-Brooklyn men’s track and field team made some history last weekend, cruising to a 35-point margin of victory in Staten Island to grab their fourth straight NEC Indoor Championship.

Senior Karl Cajuste was named MVP of the meet as the Most Outstanding Track performer.

Senior Adam-Walker Khan received the Most Outstanding Field performer for his two medals in the jumping events.