Brooklyn’s Blackbirds sent home early by James Madison
The LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds squandered a prime opportunity to play “Hoosiers” against Indiana on Friday night.
The three-time defending Northeast Conference champions endured their worst offensive effort of an otherwise historic season, baffling first-year coach Jack Perri and the rest of Blackbird nation with an ugly 68-55 loss to fellow No. 16 seed James Madison on Wednesday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before 12,027 fans at University of Dayton Arena.
”Plain and simple, they really bothered our shots,” Perri admitted after LIU went 7-for-30 from the field over the final 20 minutes against the Dukes, who outrebounded, outhustled and outmuscled the smaller, quicker Blackbirds right out of the gym. ”That was something we weren’t necessarily thinking was going to happen.”