LIU, Wagner In Decisive Match-Up Today in Fort Greene

Story by Brandon Glogau, sports reporter for The Seawanhaka, LIU Brooklyn’s school newspaper.

Following a 82-65 loss Thursday night at Mount St. Mary’s that snapped a four-game winning streak, the LIU Brooklyn men’s basketball team looks to pick up an important home victory at 4:30 p.m. today over local rival Wagner. Currently tied for with Saint Francis, PA (14-12; 8-7 NEC) for fifth in the conference, the Blackbirds (12-14; 8-7 NEC) remain one game behind the Mount (13-13; 9-6 NEC) and Robert Morris (13-14; 9-6 NEC) for fourth place and a home playoff game in the first round of the NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Losers of four of their last five, the Seahawks (9-17; 7-8 NEC), the Northeast Conference’s eighth-place team, come to the Steinberg Wellness Center needing a win to even their conference record and restore luster to what has been an uneven third season for Wagner head coach Bashir Mason. The Seahawks have enjoyed recent success against the Blackbirds with three straight wins including an 87-82 win over LIU on January 10 on Staten Island.

Today’s game will make or break either LIU or Wagner: the loser today will likely end up as the NEC’s eighth and final seed and face St. Francis Brooklyn, the conference’s top team, in the first round of the Northeast Conference playoffs. After today the Blackbirds have two games remaining on their schedule: a home game at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Terriers, and their regular season finale on the road next Saturday against Sacred Heart (13-15; 7-8 NEC).

LIU has already clinched a playoff berth for the sixth time in seven years and seeks the program’s seventh NEC Championship and fourth in the last five years.

Over in Brooklyn Heights, the Terriers are on the cusp of history: A win today at home over Saint Francis, PA will not only clinch a NEC regular season title for only the third time in program history (2001, 2004) but will also give St. Francis (19-9; 13-2 NEC) it’s first 20-win season since the 1998-99 squad went 20-8. The Terriers visit second place Bryant (13-13; 10-5 NEC) next Saturday to close out a fantastic regular season, then prepare to capture their first-ever NEC title with an opening round game at the Pope Center on March 4. Will they face Wagner or LIU? Today’s game in Fort Greene may decide.

Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball: LIU Brooklyn vs. Wagner, Saturday, February 21, 4:30 p.m. The Steinberg Wellness Center, 161 Ashland Place (between DeKalb Avenue and Willoughby Street). For more information contact g.fox@liu.edu or 718-488-1018

PHOTO CAPTION: LIU’s Joel Hernandez led the Blackbirds with 18 points in an 87-82 loss to Wagner earlier this season.
PHOTO CREDIT: Bob Dea