HARTFORD, Conn. - The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team improved to 6-1 this season with their Wednesday night win over Hartford in Chase Arena, 75-68. The mark is the best for a Blackbirds team since the 1971-72 season. Senior Jerome Frink led all scorers with 28 points, while sophomore Raul Frias had a career-high 14 points and eight rebounds.

Frias got to work early for the Blackbirds. The sophomore hit a three at 17:52, and then proceeded to hit make it back-to-back-to-back in the next five minutes, vaulting LIU ahead, 12-4. Senior Iverson Fleming added a three in the run, and the Blackbirds kept building from there. A three-pointer from freshman Ashtyn Bradley at 7:32 helped widen the lead to 14, 25-11.

Hartford struggled with shooting in the first half, while the Blackbirds were firing on all cylinders. LIU would string together a 10-0 over two minutes in the first half that would widen the eventual lead to 35-13. Frink would make a layup and a jumper just a couple of minutes later, to give the Blackbirds their widest lead of the day, 39-16. LIU maintained the gap, and took a 45-23 lead into the half. Frias finished the first half with 12 points, setting a new career high before the second half had even started.

Coming out of the break, however, a dynamic shifted. Hartford began to press, and slowly erased a 23-point deficit. The Hawks went on a 21-8 run, shooting 7-for-10 from the field, while LIU missed multiple shots. The run cut the lead down to single digits, 53-44 with 13:14 left to play. Another 12-1 run by the Hawks shifted momentum, and brought the home team within three points, 59-56, at 7:15.

But foul trouble would plague the Hawks, and Fleming and his teammates had increased the pressure on defense. Fleming had two steals over a minute and half, and drew fouls on both efforts. On the first play, he made two free throws at the six-minute mark to help widen the lead back up to nine points, 65-56. In the final minutes of the game, LIU went 8-for-12 from the free throw line to help ice the win, as Hartford's furious rally fell short.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• LIU out-rebounded the Hawks, 40-32, and had 11 steals in the win.
• Jerome Frink led all players with 28 points, along with two assists, two blocks and five rebounds.
• Sophomore Raul Frias had 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds.
• Senior Iverson Fleming had 10 points in the win, along with two steals and two assists.
• Freshman Jashaun Agosto had a career-high six assists in the win, along with six points.
• Up next, the Blackbirds travel to San Antonio, Texas, to take on the University of Incarnate Word this weekend.