Under the Radar Game of the Day: Long Island U-Brooklyn at St Francis (Brooklyn)

LIU-Brooklyn at St. Francis (Brooklyn), 6:00 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network

It is time for one of our favorite college basketball rivalries — the Battle of Brooklyn between Long Island University and St Francis College, two schools just a few miles apart in Brooklyn that have been matching up against each other since 1928.  Although the two schools play each other twice annually, only the second of the two games each year is officially designated as the “Battle of Brooklyn”.  These two teams met at LIU back on January 14 with the Blackbirds winning 63-58, but that and all records are off the table in tonight’s official Battle.  Entering tonight’s game, LIU has a 23-18 lead in the “official” Battle games and a 65-41 lead in all-time matchups.

The Blackbirds of Long Island University currently sit at 16-11 overall and 9-5 in Northeast Conference play.  They had two players put up double-doubles in the first matchup between these rivals this season, as Jerome Frink scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds while Iverson Fleming had 16 points and 10 boards.  St Francis College (4-23 overall, 2-12 in conference) was led in that game by Rasheem Dunn, who had 21 points and 8 rebounds.  The Terriers will, in addition to defeating their rivals, be looking to snap a 12 game losing streak tonight.  Theey have not been victorious since December 31.  As a result, a loss tonight will also mathematically eliminate them form a berth in the NEC tournament and remove them from our Hoops HD Survival Board.  All of these may be reasons why tonight’s game is important, but at the end of the day the most important thing is the rivalry, and no matter what the records or streaks, this game should be a good one!