2016-17 LIU Brooklyn Men's Basketball Highlight Video
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team hosts the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference championship tournament in the Steinberg Wellness Center, this Wednesday, March 1. The No. 2 seeded Blackbirds (20-11, 13-5 NEC) will welcome the No. 7 seeded Robert Morris Colonials (13-18, 9-9 NEC), in a televised game that will air on Fox College Sports, MSG+ and NEC Front Row. Paul Dottino, Terry O'Connor and John Cabal will have the call for the game, which tips off at 9 p.m.
QUICK HITS
• The Blackbirds are riding a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's contest, including a win over No. 1 seed Mount St. Mary's on the road, and an overtime thriller over No. 3 Wagner Saturday. LIU's two senior captains were also just honored by the coaches around the league. Senior
Jerome Frink was named the NEC Player of the Year, and senior
Iverson Fleming was voted Most Improved Player. Freshman
Jashaun Agosto was also recognized as a member of the All-Rookie team.
• Frink becomes the eighth LIU Brooklyn player to earn NEC Player of the Year honors in his senior campaign. He joins Carey Scurry (1983-84 & 1984-85), Joe Griffin (1994-95), Charles Jones (1996-97 & 1997-98), Julian Boyd (2011-12) and Jamal Olasewere (2012-13) as LIU Brooklyn student-athletes voted NEC Player of the Year.
• Fleming was also named the NEC Player of the Week last week. Fleming claims his third NEC Player of the Week honor following a pair of clutch performances in LIU Brooklyn's road sweep over regular season champion Mount St. Mary's (69-65) and fellow contender Wagner (88-84 in OT) last week. The victories allowed the Blackbirds to sew up the #2 seed in this week's NEC Tournament. The senior averaged 22.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals, and shot 53.3 percent from the field and 80.0 percent from the stripe. Fleming led all scorers in Thursday's win at Knott Arena with 21 points on 8-13 shooting, and added three steals. His late layup was the game's key play, giving the Blackbirds a four-point edge with 13 seconds on the clock. Two days later, he finished with 18 of his 23 points in the second half and overtime as LIU rallied for the win at Wagner. Fleming hit the go-ahead trifecta with 2:44 left in the extra session, and then hit another triple to push the Blackbirds' lead to four with 26 seconds to play. His two free throws with six seconds remaining iced the game. Fleming has lifted his scoring from 4.7 ppg last season to 14.7 ppg in 2016-17, which ranks him seventh in the NEC. The North Brunswick, NJ native has scored over 20 points in each of his last three outings.
• Robert Morris enters the midweek matchup on a three-game winning streak, having beaten CCSU, Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart. The Colonials are led by second-team All-NEC honoree Isaiah Still, who averages 15.5 points per game and 44 rebounds per game.
• The two teams split this season, both winning on the road. In January, LIU beat Robert Morris in the Chuck, 65-54. The Colonials took revenge in early February, squeaking out a 67-63 win.