Complete NEC Release
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Two members of the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team were awarded post-season honors, it was announced by the Northeast Conference office Tuesday afternoon. Senior Joel Hernandez was named First Team All-NEC, while junior Raiquan Clark was named Third Team All-NEC. It is the first post-season honors for both Blackbirds. LIU Brooklyn has landed at least one player on the All-NEC first team in each of the last three seasons, and nine of the last ten years.
Joel Hernandez was named to the first-team after spending the season as one of the league leaders in scoring. The Teaneck, N.J. native averaged 20.2 points per game during the regular season, the second-highest total in the NEC. He also averaged 6.0 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game. The senior finished the regular season with three double doubles, and had 15 games with 20 points or more this season. Earlier this year, he became just the 35th player in LIU Brooklyn basketball history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark. Since then, he's tallied 1,338 career points, ranking him 18th on the all-time scorers list. Just three weeks ago, he was named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week by College Insider, Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week, and College Sports Madness National Mid-Major Player of the Week, after averaging 31.0 points on 48.9 percent shooting from the field in two games. Hernandez twice set career-highs in scoring, beginning with a 30-point out-ing in LIU's 69-60 win over Sacred Heart in a nationally televised affair on ESPNU. Two days later, Hernandez erupted for a career-high 32 points on 12-23 shooting as the Blackbirds posted an 84-71 win at Bryant.
Raiquan Clark had a breakout season in his junior year, and earned third team All-NEC honors for his efforts. After averaging just 6.2 points per game last year, Clark finished the regular season averaging 17.2 points per game this year, the sixth-highest total in the league. He shot 54.7 percent from the field, the third-best shooting percentage in the conference, and also finished the year with 7.1 rebounds per game, ranking him fourth in the league in that category. The New Haven, Conn. native had seven double doubles this season, and 10 games where he scored 20 points or more. He earned NEC Player of the Week honors in November, after scoring a career-high 34 points on 14-of-20 shooting against Tulane.
Hernandez, Clark, and the rest of the LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team take part in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference tournament as the No. 4 seed, Wednesday, February 28. The Blackbirds will host No.5 seed St. Francis Brooklyn, in a game slated to tip off at 7 p.m.
