The Battle of Brooklyn was the college sports rivalry between Long Island University and St. Francis College. The LIU Sharks and SFBK Terriers were both in the Northeast Conference and competed against each other in various sports. The Battle of Brooklyn was a fierce rivalry, which originated in men's basketball; while the two schools are rivals in all sports that both schools sponsor, the "Battle of Brooklyn" name is currently applied only to matchups in men's and women's basketball and men's soccer. The intensity of the rivalry was augmented by the proximity of the two universities, located less than a half-mile (about 500 m) apart in Downtown Brooklyn. The name of the rivalry is in reference to the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn.

Prior to 2019–20, the rivalry involved LIU's Brooklyn campus, branded athletically as "LIU" or "Long Island" through 2012–13 and "LIU Brooklyn" from 2013 forward. With the 2019 merger of the athletic programs of LIU's two main campuses (Brooklyn and Post), creating the current LIU Sharks, the Battle of Brooklyn continues to be a pure geographic rivalry in basketball. The men's soccer rivalry is no longer a geographic "Battle of Brooklyn" because the merged LIU program chose to house that sport at the Post campus in Nassau County, New York. After the 2022-23 academic year, St. Francis Brooklyn ended intercollegiate sports, putting an end to the rivalry between the Sharks and Terriers.

Men's basketball

The Battle of Brooklyn started as an annual basketball game played between the basketball programs of Long Island University (which then consisted only of today's LIU Brooklyn campus) and St. Francis College. The rivalry between the Terriers and the Sharks (previously known as the Blackbirds) dates back to the 1928 season, when they first played one another, but the tradition of an annual game between the two programs began in the 1975–76 season predating when both teams joined the Northeast Conference in the 1981. At the conclusion of each game an MVP is announced and the winning team receives the Lai-Lynch Trophy, which honors William Lai and Daniel Lynch, the former Athletic Directors of Long Island and St. Francis, respectively.

Both the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers and the LIU Sharks compete in the Division I Northeast Conference. Although the two schools regularly play twice each regular season, only one of the games, usually the last, is officially designated as a Battle of Brooklyn game. The host of the designated Battle of Brooklyn alternates annually and is held at campus sites. The Blackbirds host their games at the Steinberg Wellness Center. Through the 2021–22 season, the Terriers played home games at the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex. In 2022, SFC moved its campus from Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights to Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn; with the new campus lacking a basketball venue, the Terriers will at least temporarily play home games at the Activity Resource Center (ARC) of Pratt Institute, located about 2 miles away in the Clinton Hill neighborhood. The 39th installment of the Battle of Brooklyn was held at the Barclays Center, the largest venue so far for the annual contest, with LIU Brooklyn as the hosts. The Sharks led the overall series 69–45 and the Battle of Brooklyn series 25–20.

Notable games

The first game of the Battle of Brooklyn rivalry was played on February 25, 1976 before 1,000 spectators at the "old Brooklyn Paramount theater." The game was decided in the final 40 seconds, when Tony Babin of St. Francis scored on a lay-up to give the Terriers a 3-point lead. In a testament to the rivalry's intensity, on January 4, 1994, the Terriers, suffering through the worst season in school history (eventually finishing at 1–26) stepped it up a notch and collected their only win of the season, beating LIU by 11 points, 78-67. On February 22, 2003, the Terriers hosted the Blackbirds at The Pope and both teams set a NEC record for points in a game. The match-up went into double overtime and featured 282 points, with St. Francis winning, 142–140. The Blackbirds' first game at the Steinberg Wellness Center was on January 26, 2006 against Sacred Heart. Yet the grand opening of the Steinberg Wellness Center was for the Long Island vs. St. Francis men's basketball game on February 27, 2006. The wait until the Battle of Brooklyn game for the grand opening of the Wellness Center is a testament to the rivalry's importance to both schools. The Blackbirds previously held their home games at the Schwartz Athletic Center. On February 6, 2010, the Blackbirds and Terriers went into triple overtime in the annual Battle of Brooklyn game. The Terriers were eventually able to beat the Blackbirds. After the game former LIU head coach Jim Ferry had this to say: "A 10-point lead in a Battle of Brooklyn game is never safe. I’ve been through this before, I think this is my third overtime game in this series..."

Men's game results Long Island/LIU Brooklyn victories shaded black ██. Beginning with the 2019-20 season LIU victories are shaded gold ██.

St. Francis College victories are shaded blue ██.

# Date Site Winner Score MVP Series 1 February 25, 1976 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 83–79 Jerome Williams (SFBK) SFBK 1–0 2 1976–77 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 114–92 Gerard Trapp (SFBK) Tied 1–1 3 1977–78 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 64–61 John N. Bailey (LIU) LIU 2–1 4 1978–79 Neutral Location St. Francis 82–72 Manny Figueroa (SFBK) Tied 2–2 5 December 3, 1979 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 91–69 Robert Cole (LIU) LIU 3–2 6 January 14, 1981 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 85–67 Rudy Johnson (LIU) LIU 4–2 7 January 18, 1982 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 98–82 Riley Clarida (LIU) LIU 5–2 8 January 5, 1983 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 81–72 Kevin Henry (SFBK) LIU 5–3 9 February 4, 1984 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 88–81 Carey Scurry (LIU) LIU 6–3 10 December 7, 1984 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 68–63 Walter Jordan (LIU) LIU 7–3 11 January 4, 1986 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 76–66 Andre Evan (LIU) LIU 8–3 12 January 3, 1987 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 94–91OT Darwin Purdie (SFBK) LIU 8–4 13 December 12, 1987 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 66–63 Glenn Daniels (LIU) LIU 9–4 14 February 20, 1989 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 79–77OT Freddie Burton (LIU) LIU 10–4 15 January 6, 1990 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 74–63 John Arnold (SFBK) LIU 10–5 16 February 9, 1991 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 117-1152OT Brent McCollin (LIU) LIU 11–5 17 February 8, 1992 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 97–94 Lynn Smith (SFBK) LIU 11–6 18 January 28, 1993 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 107–98 Lou Meyers (SFBK) LIU 11–7 19 January 4, 1994 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 78–67 Bryan Willcox (SFBK) LIU 11–8 20 January 5, 1995 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 74–61 Joe Griffin (LIU) LIU 12–8 21 February 19, 1996 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 105–77 Dave Masciate (LIU) LIU 13–8 22 January 25, 1997 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 68–64 Mike Campbell (LIU) LIU 14–8 23 February 18, 1998 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 86–71 Mike Campbell (LIU) LIU 15–8 24 January 11, 1999 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 74–68 Ray Mineland (SFBK) LIU 15–9 25 January 19, 2000 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 66–63 Herberth Reyes (SFBK) LIU 15–10 26 January 13, 2001 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 81–63 Steven Howard (SFBK) LIU 15–11 27 February 25, 2002 Schwartz Athletic Center St. Francis 108–94OT Jason Morgan (SFBK) LIU 15–12 28 February 22, 2003 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 142–1402OT Cliff Strong (SFBK) LIU 15–13 29 February 21, 2004 Schwartz Athletic Center Long Island 78–75 Brandon Thomas (LIU) LIU 16–13 30 February 10, 2005 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 77–68 Allan Sheppard (SFBK) LIU 16–14 31 February 27, 2006 Steinberg Wellness Center Long Island 67–64 James Williams (LIU) LIU 17–14 32 February 11, 2007 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 82–79OT James Williams (LIU) LIU 18–14 33 February 21, 2008 Steinberg Wellness Center St. Francis 67–64 Kayode Ayeni (SFBK) LIU 18–15 34 February 28, 2009 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 66–54 Ron Manigault (LIU) LIU 19–15 35 February 6, 2010 Steinberg Wellness Center St. Francis 88–843OT Ricky Cadell (SFBK) LIU 19–16 36 February 12, 2011 MSG Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 82–80 C. J. Garner (LIU) LIU 20–16 37 February 12, 2012 MSG Steinberg Wellness Center Long Island 81–78 Jamal Olasewere (LIU) LIU 21–16 38 January 24, 2013 FCS/MSG+ Generoso Pope Athletic Complex Long Island 78–68 C. J. Garner (LIU) LIU 22–16 39 February 16, 2014 FCS/MSG Barclays Center LIU Brooklyn 69–68 Jason Brickman (LIU) LIU 23–16 40 January 31, 2015 FCS/MSG Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 81–64 Brent Jones (SFBK) LIU 23–17 41 January 23, 2016 ESPN3 Steinberg Wellness Center St. Francis 64–49 Chris Hooper (SFBK) LIU 23–18 42 February 15, 2017 CBSSN Generoso Pope Athletic Complex LIU Brooklyn 82–45 Jerome Frink (LIU) LIU 24–18 43 February 22, 2018 Steinberg Wellness Center LIU Brooklyn 81–76 Joel Hernandez (LIU) LIU 25–18 44 February 14, 2019 Generoso Pope Athletic Complex St. Francis 83–76 Glenn Sanabria (SFBK) LIU 25–19 45 February 18, 2020 ESPNU Steinberg Wellness Center St. Francis 87–77 Milija Cosic (SFBK) LIU 25–20 46 January 30, 2021 ESPN3 & SNY Generoso Pope Athletic Complex LIU Sharks 102–88 Ty Flowers & Eral Penn (LIU) LIU 26–20 47 February 10, 2022 ESPN3 Steinberg Wellness Center LIU Sharks 74–69 Ty Flowers & Eral Penn (LIU) LIU 27–20 48 January 16, 2023 ESPN3 Steinberg Wellness Center St. Francis 73-66 LIU 27-21 49 January 28, 2023 NEC Front Row Pratt ARC St. Francis 71-59 LIU 27-22

Women's basketball

During the 1993–94 season the women's basketball programs of St. Francis College and Long Island University contested their first official Battle of Brooklyn. Since February 21, 1975 when the two teams first met, LIU leads the overall series 50–30. St. Francis leads the Battle of Brooklyn series 16–13.

Women's game results Long Island/LIU Brooklyn victories shaded black ██. Beginning in the 2019-20 season LIU victories are shaded gold ██.

St. Francis victories are shaded blue ██.