BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The LIU men's basketball team fell to Fairleigh Dickinson at home Friday evening, 77-62. With the loss, the Sharks move to 6-5 in NEC action.
 
LIU took an early 12-7 lead on the Knights, in part because of hot shooting from junior Virshon Cotton. Cotton couldn't miss, making all three of his early buckets to have eight of LIU's 12 points. The Sharks would then use back-to-back baskets from redshirt sophomore Alex Rivera to widen the lead to 17-7 at 14:05. But FDU would close the gap to one, with the help of an 11-3 run, making it 20-19 with 8:40 left to play in the contest.
 
FDU then used a 14-2 run over four minutes to take the lead on the Sharks, 33-24. The Knights would continue to outshoot LIU, and led at the half, 37-29.
 
In the second half, the Knights would continue to see strong shooting, as the visiting team hit 53.3 percent from the field, while the Sharks struggled, making just 35.3 percent of their shots. FDU's lead would extend as wide as 77-55, before Ty Flowers and Eral Penn would score seven straight points in 44 seconds, to make the final score 77-62 in favor of the Knights.

SHARK BITES

• Flowers finished with a game-high 18 pts, along with 11 rebounds and six assists.
• Junior Virshon Cotton had 17 points (including five made threes), along with three steals, two assists and two rebounds.
• Eral Penn finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Up next, the Sharks host St. Francis Brooklyn at home, Monday, February 8 at 5 p.m.