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Health & Fitness

Spike Lee: "LIU Blackbirds-Spreadin' Love—It's Da Brooklyn Way!"

LIU Brooklyn begin its quest for a third straight Northeast Conference crown at the WRAC, right where they ended last year's championship game with a dominant win over Robert Morris.

Spike Lee, Brooklyn’s resident hoops expert, has the Blackbirds’ back as LIU Brooklyn men’s basketball team begins their quest tonight at 7 p.m. for a third-straight Northeast Conference’s (NEC) basketball championship. LIU (17-13, 12-6 NEC) hosts a rematch against Quinnipiac (15-15, 11-7 NEC) in the first round of the NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. But the Blackbirds need more than words of support from a local icon to defend their NEC title and advance to their third consecutive N.C.A.A. Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Luckily, the Blackbirds have senior forward Jamal Olasewere.

Yesterday Olasewere was named 2013 Northeast Conference Player of the Year, giving LIU back-to-back NEC players of the year for the first time since Charles Jones in 1996-97, 1997-98. Thanks to Olasewere’s exploits, the Blackbirds are on a tear, winning 10 of their last 13 games while securing the third seed in the NEC tournament.

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Olasewere has had a lot of help this year in leading the Blackbirds to the upper half of the NEC tournament bracket. Shooting guard C.J. Garner, who was selected for All-NEC Third Team honors, has enjoyed an impressive senior season, hitting for 17.4 points per game against NEC opponents to rank sixth in the conference, while joining an exclusive club of Blackbirds by tallying his 1,000th career point in early February.

Junior Jason Brickman, LIU’s masterful point guard, earned All-NEC Second Team honors for the second straight season while setting a new standard for assists in an LIU career: 685 and counting. With an average of 8.5 assists per game, Brickman leads the nation in passing and stands 119 behind former Marist guard Drafton Davis, who set the NEC career record 25 years ago.

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Not to be overlooked, LIU’s fantastic freshman E.J. Reed was tabbed yesterday to join the NEC’s all rookie team. The 6-6 forward stepped into the absence created when 2012 NEC Player of the Year Julian Boyd was injured, providing the Blackbirds with a lift on both ends of the court.

LIU coach Jack Perri, in his first year leading LIU after six years as an assistant, knows just how important home court advantage is. LIU won the last two NEC championships at the WRAC, where the Blackbirds have captured 36 of their last 38 games. “To win games on the road is really difficult—you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself. So, you want as many home games as possible”

Perri cited how even NEC play has been this year, with any team in the 2013 NEC tournament having a puncher’s chance. “This season league parity is skewed because one through eight (teams in the conference tournament) could win it.”

Because of Olasewere and company, LIU has a realistic chance at a yet another title. But it won’t be easy.

Nelson Castillo, who’s been watching LIU basketball since 1996, said that LIU’s path to a third straight championship is that much harder on the road. “With possibly just one home game, things will need to go LIU's way if they are to make a historic run to a third straight NEC championship,” said Castillo. The blogger behind Blackbirds Hoops Journal believes “If LIU survives and there are a couple of upsets, the Blackbirds have a chance at a unprecedented three-peat.”

Also following the Blackbirds is former Blackbird head coach Jim Ferry, who last April was given the opportunity to rebuild Duquesne’s basketball program. Even though he’s no longer patrolling the LIU sidelines, Coach Ferry still keeps a watchful eye on his former charges.

Complimenting his former head assistant, Ferry said “I think Jack did a fantastic job. To lose one player of the year and then be one win away from first place again is phenomenal.”

Earlier this season LIU lost a last second decision to Robert Morris that ultimately decided the NEC regular season title in favor of the Colonials—the team the Blackbirds have defeated in the last two NEC championship games.

Discussing Olasewere, his former star, Coach Ferry said, “Jamal steps up and becomes player of the year in the league—that’s something pretty special.” Ferry coached Julian Boyd last season when Boyd captured 2012 NEC Player of the Year honors.

Like Castillo and Perri, Ferry knows that winning on the road is tough, but he feels the Blackbirds are up to the task. “They have an opportunity to do something great: be a team that won it three years in a row. I think it’s going to be a significantly tougher road than it was the last two years, starting with this game against Quinnipiac.”

According to Ferry, the Blackbirds need “to use their experience in big games and play with great poise” to make a run at another title.

Coach Ferry will not be in attendance tonight, and you never know what Mr. Lee—who appeared at the WRAC in last year’s NEC final—might do. But for fans that do want to watch the Blackbirds in what is perhaps this season's last home game, community tickets are still available. For information contact Greg Fox, LIU Associate Director of Athletics, at gfox@liu.edu

Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament: LIU Brooklyn vs. Quinnipiac University, Wednesday, March 6, 7 p.m. The WRAC, 161 Ashland Place (between DeKalb Avenue and Willoughby Street). For more information contact g.fox@liu.edu or 718-488-1018.

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