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By Richard Kagan
Brooklyn Daily
Senior Night was a historic one for Long Island University men’s basketball thanks to senior guard Jason Brickman.
He went over the 1,000 career assist mark in the final game of his stellar four-years with the Blackbirds in an 81–62 loss to Bryant at the Wellness Center last Saturday.
“I was tearing up before the game thinking about everything that’s gone on for four years,” Brickman said.
Brickman is just the fourth player in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association to reach that milestone, and he finished fourth on the all-time collegiate assist leaderboard with 1,009.
He is also only the second player in NCAA history to reach a double-double average in points and assists, with 11 points and 10 assists for the season. The first player, Avery Johnson, a former head coach for the Nets, achieved that mark in the 1987-88 season at Southern University.
Brickman, who had 12 assists in his final game, is a finalist this season for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the top point guard in the country, which will be announced in April.
He was honored in a brief ceremony on March 1 before the tip-off, joined by his family — including his younger brother, Justin, who is a freshman guard on the Bryant squad.
Brickman collected his 1,000th assist on a pass to Gerrell Martin, who hit a trey at the 8:33 mark of the first half as LIU was fighting to get back into the game.
“I knew he was going to get it,” Martin said. “It was a matter of time. I even told him before the game I was going to get him three assists.”
It was an emotional few days after LIU was eliminated from making the Northeast conference tournament with an overtime loss to Central Connecticut State on Feb. 27. The Blackbirds ended the season earlier than usual with a 9–20 overall record.
The last three seasons, LIU won the conference and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Julian Boyd, the grad student who made an attempt to play after undergoing his second anterior cruciate ligament surgery, was on hand to see his friend Brickman make history. Boyd, a former conference rookie- and player-of-the-year, made an impressive combo with Brickman during their time together on the court. Brickman admitted Boyd was his favorite player to pass to in his four years on the team.
“He has unbelievable hands and he runs the floor, knows the game well,” Brickman said. “We played off each other so much. One of the best players I’ve ever played with.”
The San Antonio Texas native said he appreciated the fans coming out to see him play. Blackbird’s coach Jack Perri spoke about how much of a treat it was to coach Brickman, and was a luxury it is having him on your side. Perry called him a superstar and thanked his mother for sending him to LIU, saying Brickman was everything he could have asked for in a point guard.
“He was calm, cool, collected and made all the right decisions,” Perri said. “His work ethic was second to none.”