BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Long Island University men's basketball team (24-11, 15-3 NEC) capped off its 2025-26 season in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, falling to No. 1 seed University of Arizona 92-58 in the first round on Friday.
Junior Mason Porter-Brown led LIU with 15 points, including four made three-pointers on eight attempts, while senior Greg Gordon (12 points) and graduate student Jamal Fuller (11) both finished in double figures. Fuller led LIU with five rebounds, while he, Gordon, junior Jomo Goings, and redshirt senior Malachi Davis tied for a team-high three assists. Graduate student Caleb Johnson led LIU with two blocks.
LIU entered the NCAA tournament after securing its seventh NEC Men's Basketball Tournament title in program history, besting No. 3 seed Mercyhurst 79-70 in Brooklyn. Prior to the NEC championship game, LIU defeated No. 8 seed Chicago State 79-75 in the quarterfinals and No. 7 seed Wagner 64-56 in the semifinals.
LIU's win over Wagner secured the NEC's automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA tournament due to Mercyhurst's status as a reclassifying Division I institution. This is the first NCAA tournament appearance in the Sharks era of the program, and the eighth overall.
On top of claiming an NEC tournament title, LIU won the NEC regular season championship after posting a 15-3 mark in conference play, finishing three games ahead of second-place Central Connecticut State University. LIU claimed both the NEC regular season and tournament championships in the same year for the fifth time in program history, joining the 1983-84, 1996-97, 2010-11, and 2011-12 teams.
The Sharks had an impressive showing in the end-of-season NEC awards, as head coach Rod Strickland became the third coach in program history to be named the NEC Coach of the Year, while Gordon became the first student-athlete in program history to be named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year.
Additionally, Davis and Fuller were both named First-Team All-NEC selections, while Gordon was named to both the Second-Team All-NEC and All-Defensive Team lists.
LIU led the NEC in several statistical categories this season, including blocks per game (5.4, 10th in Division I), fastbreak points (14.29, 29th in Division I), field goal percentage (45%), free throw attempts per game (19.5), and three-point percentage defense (32.2%).
