Men’s Basketball Meets Top Seed Wagner In NEC Championship Game Tuesday Story Players Mentioned Related Videos LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO (ESPN3) | Also airing on ESPN 2 LIU Game Notes | Wagner Game Notes NEC Tournament Central | Purchase Tickets Here BROOKLYN, N.Y. – It will be a battle of the boroughs in Staten Island Tuesday night, as the No. 4 seeded LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team will travel over the Verrazano Bridge to take on No. 1 seed Wagner in the 2018 Northeast Conference Championship game. The game marks the first time these two New York City teams will be meeting with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line, and just the second time in NEC history that the league championship will feature two New York City-based schools. The game, which tips off at 7 p.m., will air nationally on ESPN 2, with Rece Davis on play-by-play and Tom Crean on color. Fans will also be able to watch the game online, via ESPN3. NOTES FROM THE NEST No. 4 seed LIU advanced to the championship by erasing a double-digit deficit en-route to a dramatic 78-77 triumph over No. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson in the semifinal game in downtown Brooklyn. The No. 4 Blackbirds used a pair of free throws to take the lead for good in the final seconds. It is LIU's first championship game appearance since 2013. Junior Raiquan Clark had 28 points and seven rebounds to lead the Blackbirds in the win over FDU, while senior Joel Hernandez had 25 points. The top-seeded Seahawks, led by NEC Coach of the Year Bashir Mason, posted a 75-64 victory over No. 7 seed Robert Morris in a game that they led for the entire second half. With the win, Wagner maintained their perfect 16-0 record in the Spiro Sports Center this season. It will be the third time this season the two teams have face off, but the first-ever meeting in an NEC Championship game. The two teams have a long-standing rivalry. This will be the 107th meeting between the two programs; LIU holds the all-time advantage, 60-46. If LIU Brooklyn wins, the Blackbirds earn the NEC's automatic bid for the seventh time in its program history, and the first since 2013, when they played James Madison in Dayton. If Wagner wins, the Seahawks will earn the NEC's automatic bid the second time in program history, and the first in nearly 15 years, as the 2003 team is the only Seahawk team to capture the league crown. Both times that LIU and Wagner have met up this season, it's been a battle that's come down to the last horn. The two teams each won on their home court. And in both, turnovers and foul shots proved important to the overall victory. In the first meeting in mid-January in Brooklyn, sophomore Julian Batts hit a layup with 1.8 seconds left to play, giving the Blackbirds the 69-67 win. Neither team ever led by more than single digits in the game. Late foul trouble cost the Seahawks in the Blackbird win, as LIU was in the bonus for the last eight minutes of the second half. In that span, the Blackbirds went 7-for-12 from the free throw line. Senior Joel Hernandez had 18 points and seven rebounds in 34 minutes, while Julian Batts had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and four rebounds. The Blackbirds' defense held Wagner's leading scorer Jojo Cooper to just 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Romone Saunders led the Seahawks with 18 points, while Blake Francis had 11 points. Wagner scored 20 points off of LIU's 17 turnovers. In the second meeting, just days after Valentine's Day, it was once again a back-and-forth battle between the two borough teams. After overcoming a significant first half deficit, the Blackbirds would stay locked in with Wagner throughout the second half, and neither team would lead by more than six points. In the end, the Seahawks took the win thanks to late free throws, 78-74. Batts would lead all scorers with 21 points in the game. In the second meetup, LIU out-rebounded the Seahawks, 40-29, but had 16 turnovers to Wagner's nine. Wagner would score 19 of their points off of LIU turnovers. JoJo Cooper led Wagner with 18 points, one of four players to score in double digits in the home court win. In the quarterfinals, LIU had its biggest win in years, having beaten No. 5 seed St. Francis Brooklyn, 73-50. It was the widest margin of victory over a Division I team since 2013, when LIU beat Mount 91-70 in the NEC Championship game. It also marked the largest margin of victory in an NEC Tournament game since Robert Morris beat Wagner, 91-68, in the 2015 quarterfinals. LIU held SFBK to their lowest opponent point total of season (50), the lowest number of field goals made by an opponent (16), and the lowest field goal percentage by an LIU opponent this season (.276). The 27.6 percent shooting from the floor was also the lowest in an NEC Tournament game since Wagner limited CCSU to 25.0 percent in the 2013 QF. The Blackbirds are 21-5 (.808) all-time at home in the NEC Tournament. The 21 home wins are the second-most in league history behind RMU's 27 victories. The winner of Tuesday's game will earn the league's automatic NCAA bid. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled to take place Sunday, March 11. Players Mentioned Bio Julian Batts #1 G 5' 11" 175 lbs So. Bio Raiquan Clark #23 G/F 6' 6" 195 lbs Jr. Bio Joel Hernandez #0 G 6' 3" 180 lbs R-Sr. Related Videos