Men's Basketball to Face Dowling in ECC Semifinal on Saturday, 5 p.m.
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (March 1, 2012) – After earning a bye through the quarterfinal round, the men's basketball team of C.W. Post will face Dowling in the semifinals on Saturday at Queens.
With a 21-5 overall record and a conference best 15-1 record, the Pioneers earned the number one seed in the ECC Tournament. Last Saturday, C.W. Post defeated the District of Columbia, 85-75, to clinch the first place spot. The Pioneers went 19-24 from the free throw line with the Firebirds only converting on 4-6. C.W. Post also dished out 14 assists on 30 field goals as
Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) went for 26 points and five assists and
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) put together 18 points and 16 rebounds.
The Pioneers finished the regular season scoring 84.7 points per game with on the defensive end, only giving up 73.9 points a game. The offense was able to generate 18.8 free throws made a game with 6.6 shots from beyond the arc made as well. On the glass, the Pioneers used a positive 7.8 rebounding margin to control the interior over opponents.
With a 22.1 point per game scoring average and a 38.2 shooting percentage from three-point range, Bonneau ended the season as the top scorer in the ECC. He also added 3.3 assists a game to his stats.
Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) averaged 17.9 points behind his 44.7 shooting percentage and contributed 5.8 rebounds a game. Allen led the team with 9.4 rebounds and scored 15.1 points a game as well.
Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) has also helped contribute to the low-post play behind 8.1 points and 8.0 rebounds a game.
Dowling's men's team earned a number five seed in the ECC Tournament after an 8-8 conference mark and was able to defeat the number four seed, NYIT, on Wednesday behind a 67-63 win. The Golden Lions held a 41-32 rebound advantage and shot 45.8 percent from the field as a team. John Merchant led with 15 points and chipped in seven rebounds while Josh Malone put up 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The win helped the team improves the overall record this season to 13-14 and in those 27 games have been outscored by a slight margin of 2.9 points per game. The team has been able to move the ball around, dishing out 11.9 assists a game. Defensively, Dowling has been able to come up with 8.1 steals a game and 3.1 blocks.
Merchant enters Saturday with a 14.1 scoring average, the lead on the team. He has knocked down 63 shots from three and also passed out 2.3 assists a game. Malone leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 boards a game to go along with 10.2 points a game. Michael Hill has also contributed 9.1 points a game and 4.7 rebounds.
During the season, C.W. Post was able to take both games in the two-game series this past season over Dowling. In the first meeting at Dowling on Jan. 28, the Pioneers were able to earn a 69-67 victory and then followed that up with an 87-53 on Feb. 20 at C.W. Post. Averaging a double-double during those two games, Allen put together 19.0 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. Bonneau led in scoring behind 22.5 points a game and chipped in 3.5 assists. Merchant was the top scorer for Dowling behind 13.5 points a game while Justin Alexander scored 13 points a game and grabbed 3.5 rebounds.
The semifinal contest is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday at Queens College, with the winner advancing to the 2:30 p.m. championship on Sunday. Queens will be the host for both the men's and women's basketball championships this weekend.