FAIRFAX, Va. - The Long Island University men's basketball team begins an extensive road swing this week, playing their first of eight straight games on the road. The Sharks will not return home to downtown Brooklyn for over a month, playing in seven different states over nearly 40 days. Up first: Atlantic 10 foe George Mason, in Fairfax, Virginia, Wednesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. The Patriots and the Sharks will face off in a game that will air on ESPN+.
SHARK BITES
• George Mason, who was picked to finish ninth in the A10 preseason poll is off to a strong start this season at 2-0, having beaten Longwood (76-65) and Navy in overtime (68-55).
• Sophomore point guard Jamal Hartwell II leads the team in scoring (15.5 ppg), shooting 42.9 percent so far this season, and has committed just one turnover so far this year. Junior guard Javon Greene is next, as he's averaging 14.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 4.0 apg. Junior forward AJ Wilson adds 13.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, and 5.0 blocks per game, while Xavier Johnson rounds out the top scorers, adding 10.5 points per game.
• The Sharks and the Patriots are renewing a rivalry that goes back to the 80s, before any of the players on the court were born. George Mason and LIU faced off five times between 1980 and 1988, with GMU taking the 3-2 edge, including the most recent win in 1988, 78-74. Mason is 2-0 in Fairfax, while LIU is 2-1 when the teams face off in Brooklyn.
TY'S BLOCK PARTY
• Junior
Ty Flowers had a block party in LIU's home opener against UMass Lowell. The Connecticut native registered eight blocks, a career-high, and the most for an LIU player in over five years. It's also the second-most in a single game by an NCAA Division I player so far this season.
• He also had 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, flirting with the first triple double in LIU men's basketball history.
• Flowers currently ranks 10th in the nation in blocks per game (4.50).
LONG RANGE RECORD
• In the season opener against Rhode Island, the Sharks set a new program mark. LIU had 44 three pointers attempted, breaking a record that has stood for over 20 years. The previous record, set in 1997, was 43.
THREE-POINT STREAK
• LIU currently has one of the nation's longest streaks for consecutive games with a three-pointer made in Division I men's basketball. The Sharks have made at least one three-pointer in every game for 796 games.
• The last time LIU failed to make a three-pointer was a game against borough rival St. Francis Brooklyn, January 6, 1990.
UP NEXT
• Up next, the Sharks will travel south once more, to face off against Delaware State, Monday, November 18 at 7 p.m.
