{"id":25876,"date":"2026-03-19T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/nec-champion-liu-sharks-draw-arizona-in-first-ncaa-round\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T12:00:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:00:03","slug":"nec-champion-liu-sharks-draw-arizona-in-first-ncaa-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/nec-champion-liu-sharks-draw-arizona-in-first-ncaa-round\/","title":{"rendered":"NEC Champion LIU Sharks Draw Arizona in First NCAA Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re looking for a true March Madness underdog story, look no further than Brooklyn. On Tuesday night, <a href='https:\/\/www.liuathletics.com'>Long Island University<\/a> punched its ticket to the Big Dance, topping No. 3 seed Mercyhurst 79-70 in a thrilling Northeast Conference title matchup on their home floor. This victory marks LIU\u2019s seventh NEC championship and officially hands them a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The Sharks wrapped up the season at 24-10 (15-3 in conference), earning a spot in the bracket for the first time since 2017-18. For fans keeping track, it\u2019s also the program\u2019s inaugural appearance since adopting the Sharks moniker and their eighth NCAA bid overall. Next up? A daunting showdown against the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats on Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego.<\/p>\n<h2>Sharks Take Control in NEC Final<\/h2>\n<p>Mercyhurst came out swinging with an early 5-0 run, but the Sharks didn\u2019t flinch. Redshirt senior Malachi Davis drained two early threes, and senior Greg Gordon chipped in a bucket to erase the deficit and steer LIU ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the Lakers\u2019 best efforts to keep things close in the first half\u2014tying the game multiple times\u2014LIU held strong, taking a slim 42-40 advantage into halftime.<\/p>\n<p>Things stayed tight as the second half kicked off, but the momentum shifted for good after grad student Jamal Fuller scored at the 14:01 mark. From there, LIU didn\u2019t look back. Mason Porter-Brown\u2019s deep shot with under two minutes left gave the Sharks enough cushion to seal the deal and claim the trophy.<\/p>\n<p>Both Gordon and Davis poured in 24 points apiece, while Porter-Brown chipped in 14. Fuller put together a monster stat line with 10 points, a season-high 13 boards, and five assists\u2014his second double-double this year.<\/p>\n<p>This win secured the NEC regular-season and tournament titles for LIU in the same season for the fifth time, a feat previously achieved in 1984, 1997, 2011, and 2012.<\/p>\n<h2>Sharks Make Triumphant NCAA Return<\/h2>\n<p>After taking down Wagner in the semifinals, LIU had already earned the NEC\u2019s automatic NCAA bid. Since Mercyhurst is still in the process of transitioning to Division I, they couldn\u2019t take the spot\u2014meaning LIU\u2019s trip to the tournament was secured before the championship even tipped off.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Sharks weren\u2019t satisfied with just qualifying\u2014they wanted to win it all at home, and that\u2019s exactly what they did.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a milestone moment: LIU\u2019s first tourney appearance since the athletic program merged its Brooklyn and Long Island campuses in 2019, and now they\u2019re set to battle powerhouse Arizona in opening-round action on Friday in San Diego.<\/p>\n<h2>Coach Strickland Sparks a Turnaround<\/h2>\n<p>The mastermind behind all this? Head coach Rod Strickland. Over the past four years, Strickland has engineered an impressive rise, lifting LIU from the bottom rungs of the conference to national relevance\u2014a rebuild that stands among the best this season.<\/p>\n<p>Progress didn\u2019t happen overnight. The Sharks endured rough 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, falling short of the big stage last spring. Instead of letting those seasons define them, the team used their setbacks to fuel this season\u2019s dramatic turnaround.<\/p>\n<p>With Strickland\u2019s steady guidance, LIU shook off past disappointments and forged a championship run that brought them back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since unification in 2019. It\u2019s a testament to leadership and perseverance\u2014and proof that hard work can turn heartbreak into a celebration.<\/p>\n<p>With a league title, a trip to the NCAA, and a showdown against Arizona ahead, the Sharks have already put together a season they\u2019ll remember for years to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re looking for a true March Madness underdog story, look no further than Brooklyn. On Tuesday night, Long Island University punched its ticket to the Big Dance, topping No. 3 seed Mercyhurst 79-70 in a thrilling Northeast Conference title matchup on their home floor. This victory marks LIU\u2019s seventh NEC championship and officially hands [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v26.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NEC Champion LIU Sharks Draw Arizona in First NCAA Round - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/nec-champion-liu-sharks-draw-arizona-in-first-ncaa-round\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NEC Champion LIU Sharks Draw Arizona in First NCAA Round\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you\u2019re looking for a true March Madness underdog story, look no further than Brooklyn. 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