LORETTO, Pa. —  The LIU men's basketball team traveled to Saint Francis U on Friday night, looking to improve to their NEC record.
 
From the start, the game was a battle. It was very back and forth in the first half with the lead changing multiple times until the Red Flash jumped out to a four-point lead at halftime.
 
From there, the pesky Sharks would not go away as every time it looked like Saint Francis U was going to run away with it, LIU would come right back. Unfortunately for the Sharks, however, there just was not enough time on the clock. The lead would be cut to three until LIU had to start fouling and it fell 72-66.
 
Tana Kopa scored a career-high 20 points while grabbing four rebounds and recording two blocks.
 
Tai Strickland scored 17 while leading the team in assists with three.
 
R.J. Greene and Ahmed Essahaty both had seven rebounds for the Sharks with Nikola Djapa grabbing five.
 
The Sharks return to Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon when they host CCSU at 7 p.m.