Sharks ward off Merchant Marines

Flowers paces LIU to blowout win in Downtown Brooklyn

December 14, 2021 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Senior Ty Flowers' all-around effort helped LIU to an easy win over the visiting Merchant Marine Academy in Downtown Brooklyn Monday. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

Share this:

Though they are still two weeks removed from entering the Northeast Conference portion of their schedule, the Long Island University Sharks appear to be sharpening their teeth for a run at the league crown.

Senior Ty Flowers’ virtuoso performance spearheaded a start-to-finish 106-48 lambasting of the visiting Merchant Marine Academy Monday night in front of 127 fans at Downtown’s Steinberg Wellness Center.

Flowers finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, four steals and a blocked shot for the Sharks (2-7), who had managed only one win in their previous eight non-league contests.

Sophomore Kyndall Davis added 16 points and senior Isaac Kante had 14 in only 17 minutes as LIU ended a three-game losing streak while improving to 2-0 at home this year.

The Sharks will host Army here on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., looking for their first back-to-back wins of the year.

They will begin NEC action Dec. 29 at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Over on Remsen Street, the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers have posted consecutive wins since a dismal 0-8 start to their campaign thanks in large part to the play of junior guard Michael Cubbage, who was named an NEC Prme Performer for the second time this year Monday.

Having also received the honor during the season’s first week, Cubbage helped the Terriers (2-8) post impressive road wins at Saint Peter’s and Delaware State, averaging 15.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.

He recorded his first double-double of the season against Saint Peter’s on Dec. 8, amassing 15 points, 11 rebounds, a career-high six steals and two assists.

Cubbage, a transfer student from Marist College, leads the NEC in steals with 2.5 per game.

The Terriers were shooting for their third straight win Tuesday night at the Pope Center vs. Medgar Evers.

***

On the women’s side, grad student guard Khaleah Edwards put up 13 points and fifth-year forward Ally Lassen added nine in St. Francis Brooklyn’s 59-53 loss to NJIT Saturday in front of 250 fans at the Pope Center.

The Terriers were without standout point guard Nevena Dimitrijevic for all but four minutes of the contest, but kept the contest close throughout before the Highlanders used a late 6-0 burst to take it.

SFC (3-5) will be back in action Saturday vs. visiting Caldwell.

Grad student Khaleah Edwards had 13 points, but the Terriers fell to NJIT at home Saturday on Remsen Street. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

The still-winless LIU ladies were downed 65-55 at Columbia on Monday night despite 15 points from freshman sensation Emaia O’Brien.

Senior Brandy Thomas added 13 points for the Sharks (0-10), who will take another shot at victory No. 1 on Dec. 22 against visiting Lafayette College.

Brooklyn College’s Gianna Gotti was named CUNYAC Player of the Week for the second time this season Monday after averaging 17.0 points, 5.0 steals, 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per contest in two games last week.

The junior guard helped the Bulldogs (6-2) pull out a road win at FDU-Florham last Wednesday with 15 points, six assists, eight steals and no turnovers.

In Sunday’s tough loss to 21st-ranked NYU on Sunday, Gotti, an Oyster Bay native, piled up a game-high 21 points to go with six boards.