BROOKLYN, N.Y. – It was an afternoon to remember for the LIU men's basketball team Saturday, as the Sharks beat FDU, 84-77 to cap the regular season winning six straight games. LIU celebrated its seniors prior to the start of the game, and Eral Penn made sure it was a game to remember; the senior had a career-high 37 points, making a career-high eight three pointers on just 12 attempts, and also scored his 1,000th career point en route to the big win.
 
With the win, LIU finishes the regular season with a 15-13 overall record, and 12-6 in Northeast Conference play. The Sharks will be the #3 seed heading in to next week's conference tournament, and host #6 seed Sacred Heart, Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m.
 
SHARK BITES

• Prior to the game, LIU honored six seniors: team managers Gilberto DeLeon and Rocky Ndiaye, and team members Ty Flowers, Isaac Kante, Eral Penn and Tre Wood.
• FDU, playing to avoid the conference tournament play-in game, came out strong, taking a 12-6 lead on the Sharks in the first four minutes.
• The two teams battled back and forth for the rest of the first half, with the Knights taking a 37-35 lead into the halftime break.
• The first four and a half minutes of the second half, however, was all LIU, and nearly all Eral Penn. The Sharks, driven by Penn, went on a 15-2 run to start the second half. Penn scored 11 of the team's 15 points in that span, including three-straight three-pointers.
• FDU battled back to close the lead to four points, but the Sharks kept coming.
• At 6:51, Penn hit a straight-away three-pointer to put LIU up, 68-59, marking his 1,000th career point at LIU. A dunk by the senior just one minute later gave the Sharks their widest lead of the game, 71-59.
• The Knights would threaten late, closing the lead to five points with just over 90 seconds to play, but senior Tre Wood would go a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in that span to help LIU clinch the win, 84-77.
• Eral Penn finished the game with 37 points, a new career high, shooting a scorching 67 percent from three-point range. The senior went 8-for-12 (a career high) from behind the arc, and had six rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 33 minutes of action.
• Junior Alex Rivera had 11 points in the win for LIU, along with five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Senior Isaac Kante, who scored his 1,000th career point on Thursday night, had 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the Sharks on the boards.
• Sophomore Kyndall Davis added nine points and three blocks, while Wood had a game-high eight assists to go with his six points.
• Senior Ty Flowers added seven assists, six rebounds and six points.
• Up next, the Sharks host SHU in the first round of the NEC Tournament Wednesday.