BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team had a dominant win Wednesday night in the Pope Physical Education Center, beating the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers, 82-45, to take home 42^ndAnnual Battle of Brooklyn bragging rights. LIU senior Jerome Frink earned the Lai-Lynch Battle of Brooklyn MVP trophy, as he led LIU with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Junior Nura Zanna had a double double, his 12^th of the season, with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Raiquan Clark had 15 perfect points, going 5-for-5 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

The Blackbirds led nearly wire-to-wire in the contest, with the score being tied just once. After Frink opened the game with a layup, St. Francis' Rasheem Dunn answered seven seconds later with one to match, and the two teams were tied, 2-2. But LIU pulled away with a layup from Zanna, and the Blackbirds wouldn't trail again.

SFBK was able to keep it close in the early going, using a layup to stay within three points, 12-9 at 14:28. But the Blackbirds slowly started to pull away. Sophomores Raiquan Clark and Julius van Sauers put together an 8-2 run that would widen LIU's lead to nine points, 20-11 with 10:03 on the clock. The Blackbirds started to widen the distance even further towards the end of the half. LIU went on a 15-0 run, led by seven points from Clark, and six from Frink. Clark converted a traditional three-point play that would put the Blackbirds up 21 points with just over four minutes remaining in the half.

Clark and Frink would go a combined 4-for-4 from the line in the final minute of the half, and senior Iverson Fleming hit a three with seven seconds to go, helping the Blackbirds take a 49-25 lead into the break.

The Blackbirds set the tone early in the second half as well, continuing to smother the Terriers. Fleming hit a jump shot, and nearly 90 seconds later, Frink hit a three pointer that put LIU up, 53-25. Over the next ten minutes, LIU would go on a 16-2 run that eventually widened the lead to 40 points, 71-31 with 5:49 to play. The Terriers struggled to get offense going, shooting 1-for-14 from the field in that stretch.

Poor shooting would doom the home team, as LIU held the Terriers to a 24.5 percent shooting average from the field, and just 18.5 percent from long range. The Blackbirds also out-rebounded St. Francis 52-27 in the win, which propelled LIU to 17-11 overall, and 10-5 in Northeast Conference action.

Jerome Frink was named the game's MVP, with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal, while Raiquan Clark set a new career-high in points, and was perfect from the field. The sophomore scored 15 points shooting 5-for-5 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds and two steals for LIU. Nura Zanna added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, along with 10 rebounds for his 12^th double double of the season. Senior Iverson Fleming had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Julius van Sauers had nine points and four rebounds off the bench for the Blackbirds.

Up next, the Blackbirds host Sacred Heart for senior day, Saturday, February 18, in a game that will air on MSG Networks. Tip-off is at 12 p.m.