LIU Blackbirds ~ The WRAC Attack is Back in the NEC Finals

From the desl of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

LIU-BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS:   A Late Second Half Surge Overtakes Quinnipiac 78-75 in Semifinals.   Robert Morris Outplays #2 Wagner to Set Up Rematch of Last Season's NEC Championship Game.




The LIU Blackbirds did what the Wagner Seahawks couldn't.  They won at home, and if only barely, staved off a big tournament upset.  And so, there will be no highly anticipated showdown like so many predicted between Coach Danny Hurley's Seahawks, who had the Conference's best overall record, and Coach Jim Ferry's Blackbirds, who led the Conference and won their second consecutive regular season title.



Many prognosticators predicted a Wagner victory over LIU in the Conference Tournament finals assuming both teams advanced, of course.  But that will all have to wait for another time now.  Robert Morris pulled off a 71-64 upset of the number two seeded Wagner Seahawks in Sunday's early game in Staten Island.  The LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds will now face the Colonials in a rematch of last season's NEC Championship game.  As we know, LIU came out on top last season, and will try to defend that title on Wednesday, March 7th, at the WRAC.



In Sunday's late game, Quinnipiac shot slightly better from the field and from beyond the arch than Flatbush did.  And in most aspects, played very evenly with LIU.  But Flatbush flexed a season long strength against the Bobcats with their ability to get to the free throw line.  As they have done to many an opponent this season, the Blackbirds punished Quinnipiac from the line.  Although their touch cooled off a bit in the second half, overall, they outscored the Hawks 22-5 from the stripe.



After pushing his fellow Blackbirds passed Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals, Jamal Olasewere played in foul trouble and was limited to nineteen minutes.  Off the bench, Brandon Thompson and Kenny Onyechi were held in check as well and could to little to offset Olasewere's caution.  However, all three still figured in with key free throws down the stretch.  What LIU did have going for them Sunday was the NEC player of the Year.  Julian Boyd, punched in to lead his mates with a game high twenty-one points, to go along with a game high nine rebounds, with eight of those boards coming on the defensive end.



The lead in this game changed hands thirteen times.  LIU led by as many as ten points in the first half but settled for a 40-36 lead at the break.  Quinnipiac worked to overcome that lead over the first five minutes of the second half, and by the 7:36 mark, were up by eight points.



From then on, Julian Boyd scored eight of his twenty-one points and pulled down five rebounds.  At 4:16, Boyd nailed a jumper to get the Blackbirds to within one point, then tied the game at 69-69 on the ensuing free throw.   At 3:36, Boyd's lay-up made the score 71-69, putting the Blackbirds up again for good.  Kenny Onyechi and Jason Brickman then hit some key free throws to put LIU ahead by six.  Quinnipiac buried one last three-pointer before the buzzer sounded on a 78-75 Blackbird win.



That was the Blackbirds' twenty-sixth consecutive win inside their downtown Ashland Place gym.  The streak now ranks second in the nation only to Kentucky's current streak of fifty-two consecutive home wins.






Mike.BTB

LIU Blackbirds ~ NEC Tourney; Wipe Out Sacred Heart. Quinnipiac Next

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH




LIU-BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS:  Jason Brickman and Jamal Olasewere Turn Back the Pioneers.  Quinnipiac Up-Ends St. Francis (NY) to Set-Up Semifinal Match Up.

QUARTERFINAL:

LIU-Brooklyn   80

Sacred Heart    68

The Blackbirds went downtown for Wednesday night's NEC quarterfinal game against Sacred Heart; as in scoring thirty-three points from three-point land.  Nine LIU steals and seventeen Pioneer turnovers overall, resulted in another eighteen points for Brooklyn.

The Pioneers actually held an 8-7 lead at 14:07 of the first half.  But over the remaining portion of the game, Jamal Olasewere and the Blackbirds ensured they'd never lead again.  The Pioneers managed to get within a point of Brooklyn with 7:18 left.  However by 2:32, Brooklyn was up again by fifteen.  The Blackbirds wound up taking an eight point lead into halftime.



Once again, Sacred Heart managed to pull within a point of LIU with the score 41-40 at the 13:37 mark.  But Flatbush proceeded to pull away and were up by seventeen with just 1:43 to go.  Sacred Heart's Shane Gibson scored a game high twenty-two points, while Louis Montes pulled down a game high ten rebounds.  Sacred Heart also out-rebounded Flatbush by a plus ten margin in the losing effort.



Instead, the second half was all Brandon Thompson.  Coming off the bench, he buried a trio of three-pointers and dropped two more from the line for eleven second half points.  Overall, the Blackbirds connected on six shots from downtown in the second half on their way to an 80-68 quarterfinal victory.



Olasewere led Brooklyn scorers with twenty points; dropping eleven in the first half, and another nine in the second.  He also pulled down eight rebounds, blocked two shots, had three steals, and took a game high eight attempts from the foul line in thirty-four minutes played.  The facilitator, LIU's guard Jason Brickman, scored twelve points and distributed a game high thirteen assists.  Julian Boyd (16), Michael Culpo (11), and Michael Thompson (11), made five Brooklyn players in double-digit scoring.




NEC Tournament Quarterfinal Results:

LIU-Brooklyn defeats Sacred Heart  80-68

Robert Morris defeats Monmouth  87-68
I predicted this game would be closer.

Quinnipiac defeats St. Francis (NY)  80-72
*UPSET*   I predicted St. Francis (NY) would win convincingly.

Wagner defeats Central Connecticut State  87-77

Sunday, March 4, 2012

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

Semifinals:

Quinnipiac Bobcats

vs.

LIU-BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS

From,

THE WELLNESS CENTER

Ashland Place, Brooklyn

Mike.BTB

LIU Blackbirds ~ Loss to Monmouth was an Unpolished Finish

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

LIU-BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS:  That Was Quite a Lackadaisical Way to End a Second Title Bearing Regular Season Effort.

Regular Season Final Game:

LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds   78

Monmouth Hawks   106

In the end, it's best the defending Northeast Conference champs saved their worst for last.  For had this been one road game earlier, Saturday would have provided the regular season with a far different finish.  Was that the exhale factor LIU just suffered on the heels of winning their second consecutive regular season title?  Because me? -  I wouldn't be happy if I were Coach Ferry; not when Saturday's game versus Monmouth ended up as the worst loss of the season.  Not when the Blackbirds gave up a season high 106 points to the NEC's seventh seeded team.



In light of all the good they've collectively and individually achieved so far together this season, they were all guilty; the starters and bench included; of what I like to call - apathy.  Jamal Olasewere; Julian Boyd; Jason Brickman; C.J. Garner; Michael Culpo; and their three most prominent bench players - Brandon Thompson; Kenny Onyechi; and Arnold Mayorga; all played roles in a rather sloppy and unpolished finish.  With the NEC tournament right around the corner, if I'm thinking like a coach, I'm not liking this one bit.  And I'm sure Coach Ferry didn't as well.  Saturday's effort is not the way I would have appreciated my team closing out such a successful regular season.  I'm thinking Coach Ferry taught them better than that.



Was the game itself inconsequential?  Yes, it was.  LIU clinched the regular season title in their prior game against Fairleigh Dickinson.  And Wagner lost Saturday to Central Connecticut State as well.  I guess they too exhaled, satisfied that their two seed was secure.  But no, as things went, either way the outcome of Saturday's game against Monmouth would have changed nothing.



But in this last game, particularly in the second half,  LIU's indifference was not only glaring, but backed up by the numbers.  Brooklyn had twenty-three turnovers; Monmouth fourteen.  Monmouth scored thirty-three points off turnovers to Brooklyn's thirteen.  Monmouth scored twenty-five fast break points to Brooklyn's six.  Monmouth had forty-six points off the bench.  Brooklyn had twenty three.  In a game they spent most of the time trailing, the Blackbirds were within one point of Monmouth with 17:47 left in the second half.  With 1:37 left in the game, LIU was down by thirty-three points.  So no, when you fight back to overcome a fifteen point first half lead and get it down to six by the half, then close to within one point in the opening minutes of the second half, only to wind up getting blown out, I'm forced to question one night's motivation and potential haste to end the season.



But I won't make more this than it is.  It's one night.  It's just the sour taste that lingers because I believe in strong finishes.  And this game, on the outside looking in, seems like one they let get away.  That's all.  But for the moment, as long as I'm thinking like a coach, this is a great time for a complete  over-reaction, and to give these kids a figurative boot in the posterior while I reprogram their heads for tournament play.  Can I at least get a buffet table please?



LIU-BROOKLYN BLACKBIRDS:  NEC Regular Season Final Record

2nd Consecutive Regular Season Title.

Overall Record:  22-8  (Wagner finished 24-5 overall)
Conference Record:  16-2  1st
Home Record:  12-0  (24-0 last two regular seasons)*
Away Record:  8-8
Neutral Site:  2-0



* CORRECTION - See comment below.



Mike.BTB

LIU Blackbirds ~ Bounce Back Win Keeps Flatbush in 1st

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

LIU BLACKBIRDS:   Back on Track and Heading Home.



After suffering their first Conference defeat of the season to Robert Morris, the LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds bounced back with an overwhelming 97-76 win Saturday against the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash.  They needed the win to stay a game ahead of a thinning second place pack as Wagner and St. Francis (NY) won their games and improved to 8-2 to keep pace.  Robert Morris couldn't maintain the momentum they gained after defeating Brooklyn and in losing their last game, forged a new tie for third place with Central Connecticut State with 7-3 records


The HOOPS of FLATBUSH improved their NEC record to 9-1, and 15-7 overall.  They still remain one game shy of the .500 mark on the road with a 6-7 record.  But they're coming back home to the Wellness Center now where they still remain undefeated (7-0) this season.  The first of two Downtown games will be Thursday against the last place Bryant Bulldogs.  Then on February 4th, they have a big match-up against Central Connecticut State.


Five Blackbirds ended Saturday's game in double-digit scoring and Michael Culpo almost made it six players with nine points of his own.  LIU nearly doubled St. Francis' effort on the glass, out-rebounding the Red Flash by a 45-24 margin.  Thirty-two of LIU's forty-five rebounds came on the defensive end.  However they turned the ball over nineteen times.  Ultimately, Jamal Olasewere's efforts; nearly 60% team shooting from the field; and a game high twelve assists from Jason Brickman contributed to lead the Flatbush Five over St. Francis.


Jamal Olasewere posted a game high double-double; leading all players with twenty-six points and ten rebounds.  Jason Brickman's twelve assists were also a game high and his personal career best.  Julian Boyd (17); C.J. Garner (10) were the other two starters in double points.  Off the bench, Brandon Thompson cleaned up with eleven points in twenty-three minutes.  He shot 4-4 from the line and pulled down four rebounds.  Kenny Onyechi made the most of his fourteen minutes, contributing twelve points and five rebounds.  All together they combined to get the Blackbirds over the ninety point mark for third time this season.


Eight games remain in the regular season.  And the big Battle for Brooklyn versus St. Francis (NY) still looms just over the horizon.






Mike.BTB

LIU Blackbirds ~ One More for the Road

From the desk of:   THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

LIU BLACKBIRDS:  A Long and Winding Road Finally Ends Tonight in Norfolk, Virginia.


Things didn't go so well for the Blackbirds in their last game against Columbia.  They fell 63-53 to the Lions squad hailing out of the Manhattan college.  And in doing so, dropped their season record to five wins and five losses.  The loss also snaps a three game winning streak.


Jamal Olasewere led the Blackbirds in scoring with eighteen points and pulled down six defensive rebounds.  Kenny Onyechi followed with twelve points, and equalled Jamal's rebound totals with six of his own.  Brandon Thompson gained a team high in rebounds with seven on the night.  Arnold Mayorga was the third Blackbird to score in double digits.  He contributed eleven buckets.


The LIU back-court was held all too quiet on the night.  Jason Brickman and Michael Culpo were held to a combined eight points and a dreadful five assists.  Of the two, only Jason Brickman was able to get to the line dropping two free throws in four attempts.  Jason's team high four assists were cancelled out by five turnovers.


Next up, the Boys from Flatbush head to Virgina for a Wednesday night game versus Norfolk State.  This game will conclude a start to their season in which they will have played ten of their first eleven games on the road.  Then, they'll finally get to hang around their downtown Brooklyn campus for three consecutive, out of conference games before their NEC schedule starts-up in earnest.


The Norfolk State Spartans enter the game with a 6-4 record; fresh off a 73-60 loss to Virginia Tech.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HOOPS

LIU BLACKBIRDS
vs.

Norfolk State Spartans

Mike.BTB