FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team jumped out to a 20-point first half lead and held on down the stretch for an 84-76 victory over No. 3 Sacred Heart in the Northeast Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday evening. Junior Joel Hernandez scored 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting while classmate Iverson Fleming came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points for the sixth-seeded Blackbirds, who will take on top-seeded Wagner in the NEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 4:00 p.m.

A three-point play from NEC Player of the Year Cane Broome gave the home team a 7-6 lead in the early going, before back-to-back layups from Hernandez and sophomore Martin Hermannsson pushed the Blackbirds in front by three at the 15:31 mark. Following a bucket from Pioneers guard Quincy McKnight, a 9-2 spurt by LIU that included a steal and dunk from junior Glenn Feidanga bumped LIU's lead to 19-11.

Broome, who finished with a game-high 35 points, came back with a hoop in the lane to cut the margin to six, before the Blackbirds responded with seven straight to extend the advantage to 28-15 at the 9:21 mark. The lead remained in double figures for the rest of the first half and grew to 17 following five straight points from Fleming. A layup from Hermannsson put the score at 47-27 before six straight from Sacred Heart to close the period cut the lead to 47-33 at halftime.

The Pioneers used the momentum they had gained prior to intermission early in the second half, as consecutive baskets put the score at 47-37. LIU Brooklyn re-upped the lead back to 17 following four straight from Feidanga and a fast-break layup from sophomore Trevin Woods. Broome, however, would not let his team go away quietly as he nearly single-handedly kept Sacred Heart close.

The 6-1 guard had eight of his team's 12 points in a 12-2 run that brought the Pioneers to within 65-68 with 8:39 left. Feidanga finished down low off a nice dish from Hermannsson, before Chris Robinson and Broome both converted on layups to bring SHU closer. The two teams continued to go back and forth before Broome scored twice to make it a one-possession game at 69-66 with 5:12 on the clock.

First Team All-NEC forward Jerome Frink, who battled foul trouble throughout the night, converted on a putback hoop to nudge the Blackbirds lead to 71-66. But Broome responded with a three then, following another basket from Frink, connected again from long range to bring the Pioneers all the way back to within one. 

The Blackbirds kept their poise down the stretch, with Hernandez leading the way. His layup brought margin back to three then, following a stop defensively, the 6-3 guard threw down a thunderous one-handed jam to put the score at 77-72 with 2:27 left. Two free throws from Tevin Falzon briefly got Sacred Heart back to within a possession, but LIU Brooklyn hit seven of its eight free throws down the stretch and made three big stops to close out the win.

In addition to Hernandez and Fleming, Hermannsson closed with 13 points, Frink with 10 and Feidanga also had 10 off the bench as the Blackbirds received 30 big points from their reserves in the game. McKnight finished with 14 points and Falzon 13 for SHU.