BROOKLYN, N.Y. - LIU men's basketball seniors Ty Flowers and Eral Penn were honored by the Northeast Conference, it was announced Tuesday afternoon. Both seniors were voted first-team All-NEC by the league's coaches. It is the fourth-straight career honor for Flowers, and second in a row for Penn.
 
LIU has landed at least one player on the All-NEC first team in each of the last seven seasons and 13 of the last 14 years.
 
Senior forward Flowers became just the third four-time All-NEC honoree in league history, joining NEC Hall of Famer Chris McGuthrie, who starred at the Mount from 1992-96, and Saint Francis U legend Keith Braxton, who competed from 2016-19 and is the only NEC player to register 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. A third team pick back in 2018-19, Flowers twice copped second team accolades before his elevation to first team status this season. He currently ranks among leaders in virtually every conceivable category, including scoring (19.0, second), made three-pointers (3.0, second), blocks (1.6, fourth), rebounding (7.7, fifth), three-point percentage (.393, sixth), steals (1.4, tenth), free throw percentage (.747, tenth) and assists (3.2, 11th). On the NEC all-time chart, Flowers ranks 27th in scoring (1,726), 15th in rebounding and 19th in three-pointers (244). He is also the first DI player over the last 30 years to accumulate 1,500 points, 750 rebounds, 250 assists, 200 three-pointers, 150 blocks and 150 steals over the course of his career.
 
Senior forward Penn repeated as an All-NEC first team award recipient. Penn is fifth on the circuit in scoring (17.4), sixth in rebounding (7.5), eighth in blocks (1.0) and third in double-doubles (seven). He was a two-time Player of the Week this year, including the final week of the regular season. Penn led LIU to its fifth and sixth wins in a row, averaging 30.5 points per game, and shooting 59.4 percent from the field. He had a career-high 37 points in Saturday's 84-77 win over FDU, the majority of which came on his career-best eight three-pointers, including one which was his 1,00th career point.
 
Penn and Flowers helped lead LIU to a winning record in the regular season (15-13 overall), and a 12-6 record in conference play, clinching the #3 seed in the NEC Tournament. Up next, the Sharks host the quarterfinals of the NEC Tournament, taking on #6 seed Sacred Heart, Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m.