BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team is taking on the Pennsylvania contingent of the Northeast Conference on the road this weekend, opening with the Colonials of Robert Morris, Thursday, January 5 at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
QUICK HITS
- The Blackbirds (8-7, 1-1 NEC) are coming off a big win over Bryant at home on New Year's Eve. LIU snapped a four-game losing streak, beating the Bulldogs, 74-63 to close out the 2016 calendar year. Senior
Jerome Frink led LIU with 23 points, 15 rebounds, a career-high four blocks and two steals.
- Freshman
Jashaun Agosto was near perfect for LIU after missing one game due to injury. He had 17 points and nine assists, going 8-for-8 from the free throw line. More impressively, however, the point guard had zero turnovers in 35 minutes of play, for a 99.0 assists to turnover ratio.
- Senior
Iverson Fleming added 13 points in the win, while sophomore
Julius van Sauers chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
- Robert Morris, picked to finish sixth in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, comes into the weekend with a 5-10 overall record, 1-1 in conference action. The Colonials beat Sacred Heart in the NEC opener, 78-67, before falling to Fairleigh Dickinson on the road, 81-77.
- RMU is one of the better defensive teams in the conference, limiting opponents to just 69.8 points per game, and a .289 shooting percentage from behind the arc. They also lead the NEC in steals, with 7.47 per game. Senior guard Kavon Stewart also leads the NEC in steals per game, grabbing an average of 2.00 per game.
- Sophomore guard Isaiah Still had led Robert Morris in scoring 10 different times this season, and averages 15.4 points per game for the Colonials. Stewart is next on the team, adding 11.3 points per game.
- 6-5 senior forward Aaron Tate has led RMU in rebounding 10 times this season, and averages a team high 7.2 boards per game.
- Last year, Robert Morris swept the Blackbirds, beating them in Brooklyn, 70-60, and at the Sewall Center, 74-67. But the Colonials graduated guard Rodney Pryor, who led scoring for RMU in both of those contests, putting up 24 and 21 points in those wins.
- Up next, the Blackbirds head to Loretto, Pa., to finish up the road trip with a squaring off against Saint Francis, Saturday, January 7 at 4 p.m.