Men's Basketball Caps Homestand With 95-63 Rout of Mercy
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 15, 2014) - Leading 45-42 just two-plus minutes into the second half, the LIU Post men's basketball team rolled off a game-changing 28-5 streak over a nine-minute stretch, en route to a 95-63 drubbing of Mercy Wednesday at the Pratt Recreation Center in Brookville, N.Y.
In that run, junior guard
P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored 13 of his 21 points on the night. Senior forward
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) scored 10 points. He recorded a double-double (27 points, 13 rebounds) in the effort, and shot 11-of-14 (78.5 percent) from field-goal range.
The Pioneers (10-5, 5-2 ECC) opened up as much as a 36-point advantage in the game with 1:02 to go. A three-ball by
Sean Dillon (Staten Island, N.Y.) accounted for it.
During the opening session, LIU Post held a slight 20-18 cushion, until an 11-2 spurt, spearheaded by three treys from sophomore guard
Akosa Maduegbunam (Hyde Park, Mass.), put the hosts up 31-20 at the 5:09 mark. Fellow sophomore guard
Chris Orozco (Tenafly, N.J.) added a tip-in in that stretch.
Mercy (1-13, 1-7 ECC) answered though, rattling off a 13-4 run of its own to close the gap to two (35-33) with two minutes remaining. Seniors Kirk Bailey (Freeport, N.Y.) and LeBrandon Smith (Jamaica, N.Y.) combined for 10 of the points.
The green and gold would finish up the period strong, and bring a 40-35 lead into halftime. Maduegbunam paced all Pioneers' scorers in the stanza with 12 points.
LIU Post shot a dazzling 59.4 percent (38-of-640 from the floor in the contest, including a superb 63.9 (23-of-36) second half clip. Maduegbunam ended up with 16 points and four rebounds. Junior guard
Isiah Stokley (Queens, N.Y.) amassed 11 points, nine boards and four assists. Junior forward
Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) pitched in 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Head Coach
Erik Smiles and the Pioneers now hit the road for the first time since early December, when they take on St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday (Jan. 18) in Sparkill, N.Y. The opening tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.