BROOKLYN, N.Y. —  Tai Strickland was the hero on Thursday night, knocking down fadeaway three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left on the clock to give LIU its third NEC win over Stonehill 63-60.
 
From the jump, the game was closely contested with neither team being able to completely pull away. Each time the Sharks or Skyhawks took a lead, the other would mount a comeback. In the game there were six different lead changes and eight ties.
 
LIU was up four with 3:19 remaining until Stonehill took advantage of some turnovers and tied the game up.
 
With 23.9 seconds left the Skyhawks possessed the ball, inbounding with 18 on the shot clock. A Stonehill guard drove to the basket, but was stuffed before he could even get to the rim by Nikola Djapa. R.J. Greene grabbed the rebound with seven seconds left, lobbing it to Strickland who took it up the court. The Tampa, Fla. native dribbled the ball right by the LIU bench and with two seconds left on the clock, launched up a prayer that banked off of the backboard and found twine.
 
0.2 seconds would remain on the clock, but it was not enough for Stonehill to get a shot off and LIU claimed a thrilling win.
 
Strickland finished the game with 18 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
Tana Kopa had a team-high 20 points while also recording seven rebounds and two assists.
 
LIU dominated the boards, out-rebounding Stonehill 41 to 24. Nikola Djapa and R.J. Greene were huge parts of this as Djapa had 14 boards while Greene had 13.
 
Eric Acker returned after missing the last two games, tallying a team-high three assists and scoring 10 points.
 
The Sharks return to the court on Saturday when they travel to Le Moyne at 2 p.m.