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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Long Island University is headed back to March Madness. The LIU Sharks claimed the Northeast Conference championship Tuesday night with a 79-70 win over No. 3 seed Mercyhurst in Brooklyn, securing the program’s seventh NEC title and sending LIU into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 16 seed.
The Sharks, who finished 24-10 overall and 15-3 in conference play, will take on No. 1 seed Arizona on Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego. The NCAA berth is LIU’s first since the 2017-18 season and the first since the program began competing under the Sharks name. It is also the eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Mercyhurst opened the title game with the first five points, but LIU quickly answered. Redshirt senior Malachi Davis buried a pair of early three-pointers, and senior Greg Gordon added a basket to help erase the deficit and put the Sharks in front.
The Lakers kept the pressure on and managed to pull even several times in the opening half, but LIU stayed composed and carried a 42-40 lead into the break.
The second half began with both teams trading the lead, but LIU gained control for good when graduate student Jamal Fuller scored with 14:01 remaining. From that point on, the Sharks did not give the advantage back. A late three-pointer from junior Mason Porter-Brown with 1:56 left helped create breathing room, and LIU closed out the game to seal the conference crown.
Gordon and Davis each scored 24 points to lead the Sharks. Porter-Brown added 14, while Fuller finished with 10 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and five assists. The double-double was Fuller’s second of the season.
With the win, LIU captured 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.
LIU had already locked up the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth after defeating Wagner, 64-56, in the NEC semifinals. Because Mercyhurst is still reclassifying into Division I, it was not eligible to claim the automatic bid, meaning LIU secured its place in the national bracket before Tuesday’s title game.
Even so, the Sharks left no doubt by finishing the job with a championship performance on their home floor.
This year’s NCAA appearance carries added significance for the program. It is LIU’s first trip to the tournament since 2017-18 and its first since the university combined its Brooklyn and Long Island athletic departments in 2019. Now, the Sharks will head west to face top-seeded Arizona in one of the tournament’s opening-round matchups Friday in San Diego.
Head coach Rod Strickland has been at the center of LIU’s rise. Over the course of four seasons, he has helped guide the program from the bottom of the conference standings to the NCAA Tournament, completing a turnaround that stands out as one of the strongest rebuilding efforts among teams in this year’s field.
The progression was not immediate. LIU endured a very difficult 2022-23 season, followed by another challenging campaign in 2023-24. Last season, the Sharks moved into postseason contention but came up just short of reaching this stage. Rather than allowing those setbacks to define the program, Strickland and his team used them as part of the foundation for this year’s breakthrough.
Now, LIU has reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the athletic consolidation in 2019, a milestone that reflects the work done throughout Strickland’s tenure. His leadership helped turn early disappointment and last season’s near-miss into a championship run, restoring momentum and credibility to the program.
With an NEC title, an NCAA Tournament berth and a matchup against Arizona ahead, the LIU Sharks have already authored one of the most meaningful seasons in recent program history.