SEASIDE, Calif. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team dropped their first game of the 2018-19 season Sunday evening against the University of San Francisco, 84-52. With the loss in the first game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic, the Blackbirds move to 3-1 on the season. Sophomore Ty Flowers led LIU in the loss with 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Dons' high powered offense went to work early on LIU, as they scored seven unanswered points early on to go up, 9-3. From there, the Blackbirds would rally to cut the lead to just two points, and stayed within five points from there. A three from Flowers at 9:22 would make 19-16, and a layup from senior Raiquan Clark would keep LIU within five, 24-19. But the wheels would start to come off the bus for LIU in the last six minutes of the first half. USF would go on a 14-0 run to widen the lead to nearly 20 points, as LIU finished the half shooting 1-for-10. That one would be a three-pointer by sophomore Shyheim Hicks at 1:02 that ended a five-minute scoring drought for LIU. The Blackbirds struggled with shooting in the first half, shooting just 24% from the field in the first half (8-33), and 19% from three-point range (3-16). The Blackbirds trailed the Dons at the break, 38-23.
 
LIU had a promising start to the second half, as junior Julius van Sauers made back-to-back three pointers to start LIU on a 6-0 run. The Blackbirds closed the lead to 38-29, and USF called a timeout. The Dons would go on to make a couple of big defense stops, and increase the lead back to double digits. Flowers tried to keep the Blackbirds in striking distance, making back-to-back threes, but LIU trailed, 56-43 with 11:13 to play. Just a few minutes later, the Dons would go on another scoring spree, putting up 13 unanswered points to make it 71-48 with 3:30 to play. LIU finished the game with no field goals over a ten-minute stretch, going 0-14 from the field in that span, and falling to San Francisco, 84-52.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Ty Flowers led LIU with 16 points, shooting 6-for-14 from the field, including three three-pointers. He also had seven rebounds and two assists.
• Senior Raiquan Clark finished with 13 points, as the only other LIU player in double digits.
• Junior Julian Batts had five assists and six rebounds for the Blackbirds.
• San Francisco was led by Charles Minlend's 20 points, as they shot 54.8 percent from the field as a team.
• USF also out-rebounded LIU 51 to 28.
• Up next, the Blackbirds head to Wisconsin, where they will take on the University of Milwaukee, Tuesday, November 20 at 8 p.m. ET.