DOVER, Del. – The LIU men's basketball team pulled out its first win of the season on the road Monday night, beating Delaware State, 92-84. The Sharks had five players score in double digits in the win, led by senior Raiquan Clark's 25 points. Junior Ty Flowers had his fourth straight double double, with 18 points and 17 rebounds, along with seven assists.
 
GAME BREAKDOWN
The game did not start well for the Sharks, as DSU jumped out to an 11-0 run. Clark would eventually score five straight points to get LIU on the board, but the home team would continue to build on the lead. The Hornets' widest lead of the game came 10 minutes into the first half, when they led the Sharks, 30-14.
 
LIU would start to make up the difference towards the end of the first half, stringing together a 10-0 run that would cut the lead to single digits. Over two minutes, three-pointers from seniors Julian Batts and Ashtyn Bradley, along with baskets from both Clark and Flowers brought LIU back in striking distance, 40-35. And from there, the Sharks kept it close, trailing 46-41 at the halftime break.
 
The Sharks started the second half on a 6-2 run that would cut the lead to one point, and sophomore Virshon Cotton would give LIU its first lead of the day at 17:42, when he hit a three-pointer that made it 50-48. The two teams were close from there; though LIU used a 6-0 run to go up at one point, DSU rallied back, and would retake the lead with eight minutes left. But senior Ashtyn Bradley hit a three that would tie it up at 72-72, and the battle raged from there. Another three from Bradley with six minutes left would put LIU up, 78-72, and DSU wouldn't come close again.
 
In the final 30 seconds, senior Julian Batts would go a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line to help ice the win, and the Sharks clinched their first win of the season, 92-84.
 
SHARK BITES

• Senior Raiquan Clark had a team-high 25 points, going 9-of-14 from the field and 6-for-9 from the free throw line. He also had two blocks, a steal and an assist.
• Junior Ty Flowers had his fourth-straight double double, with 18 points and 17 rebounds. He also had seven assists, three blocks and two steals, becoming the only player in the nation over the last 10 years to finish with that stat line.
• Senior Ashtyn Bradley had 16 points off the bench for LIU, including four three pointers.
• Seniors Jashaun Agosto (15 points, four assists) and Julian Batts (12 points) also finish in double digits for LIU.
• John Crosby led Delaware State with 32 points.
• LIU shot 42.9 percent from three-point range, their best percentage of the season so far. The Sharks also shot 51.7 percent from the field, their best average as a team this season.

 
UP NEXT
Up next for LIU is the longest part of the road swing, as the Sharks will spend 10 days on the road over the Thanksgiving holiday as a part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. LIU will start with regional games, first at San Diego State, Friday, November 22, before heading to Texas to take on Texas Tech, Sunday, November 24. From there, all three teams head to the Orleans Casino in Vegas, where eight different teams will finish out the tournament. LIU will take on the University of North Florida on Thursday, November 28, before facing off against either Tennessee State or Cal Poly, Friday, November 29.