Hey, how about those LIU Sharks? March Madness is calling their name again! Long Island University punched its ticket to the Big Dance after taking down No. 3 seed Mercyhurst 79-70 in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, bringing home their seventh Northeast Conference crown. Now, with that win, the Sharks are set as a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The squad wraps the year with a solid 24-10 overall record, going 15-3 in NEC play. Up next? LIU will battle No. 1 seed Arizona this Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego. It marks the program’s first NCAA appearance since 2017-18—and the very first under the ‘Sharks’ banner since the athletic department merger. All told, it’s the eighth trip to the dance in school history.
How the Sharks Seized the NEC Title
Mercyhurst came out firing, grabbing the game’s first five points. But the Sharks didn’t blink. Malachi Davis, a redshirt senior, drained a pair of early triples. Senior Greg Gordon chipped in a bucket, quickly flipping the script and giving LIU the lead.
From there, the Lakers kept up the fight and managed to knot things up a few times before halftime. But LIU kept their cool and headed into the locker room with a slim 42-40 edge.
After the break, the teams traded blows, but the momentum finally stuck with LIU for good thanks to grad student Jamal Fuller, whose basket with just over 14 minutes left put them up for good. A clutch three from junior Mason Porter-Brown in the closing minutes added some cushion, allowing LIU to secure both the conference crown and their dance card.
Gordon and Davis led all scorers with 24 points apiece. Porter-Brown knocked down 14 and Fuller delivered a big double-double: 10 points, a season-high 13 rebounds, and five assists. It’s his second double-double this year.
With this victory, LIU becomes NEC champs in both the regular season and tournament for the fifth time, joining some legendary company from 1983-84, 1996-97, 2010-11, and 2011-12.
Sharks’ NCAA Return: A New Era Begins
Technically, LIU had their spot in the tournament locked up after a semifinal win over Wagner, 64-56, since Mercyhurst is still transitioning to D-I and couldn’t claim the automatic bid. Still, the Sharks wanted to finish the job, and they absolutely did on their home floor.
This year’s NCAA Tournament invitation is especially meaningful for the program. Not only is it their first since 2017-18, it’s also the first since LIU formed a single athletic department by joining its Brooklyn and Long Island campuses in 2019. Now, the Sharks will fly west to take on powerhouse Arizona in round one this Friday.
Rod Strickland’s Rebuild Pays Off
At the center of all this is head coach Rod Strickland. Over four seasons, he’s led the program from near the bottom of the conference all the way to the NCAA Tournament—a truly remarkable turnaround.
Things weren’t always easy. LIU struggled in 2022-23 and faced more challenges in 2023-24. Last season, they made a postseason push but fell just short. Instead of being defined by those setbacks, Strickland and company used them as fuel, paving the way for this year’s success.
This run to the NCAAs—the first since the campus merger—really caps off Strickland’s efforts in building something special in Brooklyn. The leadership and resilience he brought have transformed heartbreak into hardware, restoring pride and momentum to the LIU program.
With the NEC title, a tournament berth, and a shot at Arizona ahead, the LIU Sharks have already pulled off one of their most memorable—and meaningful—seasons in recent memory.
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