HACKENSACK, N.J. – The LIU men's basketball team used a second-half scoring surge to push past FDU on the road Sunday night, holding on to beat the Knights, 79-75. The Sharks were led by graduate student
Ty Flowers, who had 30 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
SHARK BITES
- The first half was back-and-forth, as the two teams traded the lead, and neither led by more than seven points. The Knights went up on LIU just before the eight-minute mark, and held on to that lead for the rest of the stanza, leading 38-34 at the break.
- Sharp-shooting from three early in the second half put the home team up by eight, 44-36 at 18:56, but LIU was able to chip away at that lead. Over the next two minutes, senior Eral Penn scored seven straight points to single-handedly bring the Sharks within two, 45-43.
- FDU held on to the lead, and would go up by as many as eight points, 61-53 with 11:26 to play.
- It was then that Flowers began to go to work. A three and an and-one play from the Connecticut native sparked a 13-3 run, and a three-pointer by freshman Quion Burns at 8:08 gave LIU its first lead since the first half, 66-64.
- Though FDU would retake the lead, another 8-0 run by LIU put the Sharks in control, up 76-68 with 2:50 to play. In the final minutes, the Knights would continue to battle, and a layup with 27 seconds left had FDU within two, 77-75.
- Late shots for the Knights didn't fall, and Burns and Flowers made free throws in the final 20 seconds to help clinch the win, 79-75 for the Sharks.
- Ty Flowers led the Sharks with a 30-point effort. He was 11-for-16 from the field, and 4-for-8 from three point range. He also had 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
- Senior Eral Penn had 18 points and 11 rebounds for LIU, along with three assists, three steals and a block.
- Graduate student Isaac Kante had 13 points for LIU, shooting 6-for-8 from the field. He also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
- Freshman Quion Burns had eight points and five rebounds, while Alex Rivera had seven points, a game-high seven assists and six rebounds for the Sharks.
- With the win, LIU is now 8-10 overall, and 5-3 in the Northeast Conference. At the midpoint of the season, LIU stands in third in the league standings.
- Up next, the Sharks take on the New England contingent of the NEC, heading north to face off against CCSU, Thursday, January 27, and Bryant, Saturday, January 29.
