Men's Basketball Wins ECC Regular Season Title; Finishes Off No. 18 UDC With 85-75 Win
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2012) – Senior guard
Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) scored a game-high 26 points and
Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and
Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) each chipped in with 18 apiece to lead the C.W. Post men's basketball team to a 85-75 victory over University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference action.
Bonneau was honored prior to the game, along with
Terry Coleman (Newburgh, N.Y.) and
Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J.) in the team's Senior Day recognition.
C.W. Post clinches the ECC regular season conference title as well as the top seed in the upcoming ECC tournament with a 21-5 overall record and a 15-1 mark in conference play. UDC solidifies the No. 2 seed with a 22-4 overall record and a 13-3 conference slate.
The matchup was close early, as was expected between the top two teams in the conference. Scoring started slowly for both teams with several missed shots early, as the Pioneers jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the 16:47 mark only to watch UDC respond with a 7-0 run to take a 9-6 lead at the 15:09 mark. C.W. Post responded to take a 10-9 lead, but the Firebirds grabbed the lead right back on a Dishawn Bradshaw trey.
UDC grew advantage to as many as eight points (22-14) with 9:54 to play, but the Pioneers put together an 8-0 run to tie the game at 22-22. A free throw by Bonneau put the Pioneers on top 23-22, and two possessions later the Pioneers would take the lead for good with a layup by Carberry. C.W. Post stretched its first half lead out to nine points with just a minute to play (40-31), and went into halftime up by seven, 41-34.
Two quick layups by the Firebirds right out of the half cut the lead down to a three-point advantage, but C.W. Post responded with back-to-back buckets by
Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) and pushed the lead back to seven, 45-38, at 17:52. UDC stayed close for the next several possessions, but the Pioneers used a 10-0 run that spanned from 16:21 all the way to 12:220 to extend their lead to 14 points, 57-43.
The Pioneers remained in double digits until less than a minute remained in the contest, as UDC was able to make it a nine-point contest following a layup by Nigel Munson. But the Pioneers hit five of six free throws to close out the game and earn the ten-point victory.
Bonneau finished the day shooting 8-21 from the floor and 8-8 from the line, contributing four rebounds, five assists, and block and a steal. Allen earned a double-double with 16 rebounds to go along with his 18 points. Williams chipped in with 11 points for the Pioneers, who held a 45-40 edge on the glass and had a better assist-turnover ratio (14-8 compared to 12-13 for the Firebirds.
C.W. Post shot 41% from the floor (30-72) and 19-24 from the line. UDC was a bit better from the floor (45%) but only went to the line six times, making four shots. The Firebirds did most of their damage in the paint, outscoring the Pioneers 46-36 in the category.
Top-seeded C.W. Post will take on the winner of the No. 4/No.5 seed in the semifinals of the ECC Championships, held on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Queens College in Flushing, N.Y. Check back later for opponent information.