HACKENSACK, N.J. – The LIU Brooklyn men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit to nearly come back and beat Fairleigh Dickinson on the road Thursday night, but the Blackbirds couldn't overcome the Knights' sharp shooting, and fell, 80-77.
 
LIU had four players scored in double digits in the loss, led by junior Julian Batts' 17 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Ty Flowers had 16 points, a team-high seven assists and six rebounds, while senior Raul Frias was the night's sharp-shooter, with 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field, including four three pointers. Senior Raiquan Clark also added 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds. With the loss, the Blackbirds move to 10-11 overall, and 4-5 in the Northeast Conference.
 
FDU got on the board first, but a three pointer from Frias gave LIU its first lead of the game, 5-2. Three minutes later, another three from Flowers made it 10-6 in favor of the Blackbirds. Later in the half, Frias went on a 5-0 run of his own that put the Blackbirds up 10 points, 25-15, but the Knights answered with a 6-0 run of their own, and the game stayed close from there, as it was 28-23 at the under eight media timeout. The Knights would put together a huge run to end the half. Five unanswered points by FDU gave the home team a 31-30 lead with just under seven minutes to play, and they only widened it from there.
 
In the final five minutes of the half, the Knights would go on a 14-4 run that gave them a 45-36 advantage with just under a minute left. Frias would score the last basket of the half to help stem the bleeding, but LIU trailed, 45-38 at the halftime break. 
 
The Knights shot 70 percent from three-point range in the first half, makings 7 of 10 attempts from behind the arc.
 
The Blackbirds came out hot to start the second half, scoring six straight points to close the gap to just one point, 45-44, but FDU answered with an 8-0 run of its own that widened the lead to 53-44. Thought the Knights would eventually take an 11-point lead, 60-49, the Blackbirds kept battling back.
 
Over the next four minutes, LIU went on a 10-2 run, driven by baskets from Flowers and Clark, that would cut the difference to 62-59 with 8:29 to play, and FDU would call a timeout. Three minutes later, sophomore Eral Penn hit his first career-three pointer, and followed it up with a layup 40 seconds later that put together a one-man 5-0 run, and brought the Blackbirds within two points, 66-64.
 
But a 4-0 run by the Knights gave them a buffer, 72-66, and that proved to be the difference as the clock wound down. Frias hit a three pointer with 92 seconds left that gave LIU a fighting chance, but the Knights went 6-for-6 at the free throw line to keep the Blackbirds at arm's length. Batts would hit a last-second three as the buzzer sounded, but it was not enough, and LIU fell to the Knights, 80-77.
 
NOTES FROM THE NEST

• Julian Batts played all 40 minutes for the Blackbirds, and led the team with 17 points, on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Raul Frias was next, with 16 points, shooting 85.7 percent from the field, along with four rebounds.
• Sophomore Ty Flowers had 16 points and seven assists for LIU, while senior Raiquan Clark had 15 points and seven rebounds.
• Sophomore Eral Penn added eight points in the loss, along with seven rebounds.
• FDU had five players score in double digits, led by Darnel Edge's 20 points.
• The Knights shot 68.4 percent from three-point range in the win, and scored 16 of their points off of LIU turnovers.
• Up next, LIU travels to Staten Island for a rematch of last year's NEC championship game, taking on Wagner, Saturday, February 2 at 4 p.m.