The Pioneer Trail: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015

1/14/2015 10:37:00 AM

Women's Basketball vs. Molloy - 5 p.m.
A recent three-game winning streak has the LIU Post women's basketball team on a roll as they welcome ECC foe Molloy to the Pratt Recreation Center on Wednesday night.

The Pioneers (8-5, 4-1 ECC) took care of Saint Thomas Aquinas at home on Saturday (Jan. 10), defeating the Spartans by a final score of 71-57. Junior center Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) continued to assert her dominance in the paint, putting up her sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 16 rebounds in the win. Senior guard Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) led all scorers with 22 points and contributed eight rebounds and eight assists, respectively. The green and gold shot the ball well from the field, hitting their field goals at a 46% clip. Combined with a suffocating defense that yielded a field goal percentage of just 37% and a plus-11 rebounding margin, LIU Post led wire-to-wire on their way to the victory.

Williams and Davis can be credited for much of the Pioneers' success so far this season, as both are near the top of the conference in major statistical categories. With a 21.2 points per game average, Williams leads the team, ranks second in the ECC, and is 13th in the country in scoring. Davis is second in the ECC, making 51.9% of her field goals, while her 10.3 rebounds per contest are good for fourth-best in the conference. Her six double-doubles are second-best among all players in the East Coast Conference, as well.

Molloy, meanwhile, has struggled through the first five games of ECC play. The Lions (5-7, 1-4 ECC) lost their last contest by a count of 71-60 to UDC last Wednesday (Jan. 7) in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Junior forward Kimani Jackson (Dix Hills, N.Y.) scored 17 points off the bench for her team in the losing effort. Juniors Ally Leftridge (Melville, N.Y.) and Alexia O'Connor (Centerport, N.Y.) each poured in 10 points for the Lions.

Leftridge is the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.5 points per game, despite only hitting 39% of her field goals. Jackson is the conference's best perimeter shooter, sporting a 56% field goal percentage and 12.2 points per contest. As a team, Molloy is the conference leader in taking care of the basketball, averaging an ECC-low 15.1 turnovers per contest. Additionally, neither team is particularly solid at shooting from outside the three-point arc, with LIU Post averaging just under 30% and Molloy just over 29% from long range.

Men's Basketball vs. Molloy - 7:30 p.m.
Following their first conference victory of the 2014-15 campaign, the LIU Post men's basketball team will look to settle into their groove as they host Molloy at the Pratt Recreation Center on Wednesday evening.

The Pioneers (6-7, 1-4 ECC) needed an extra period of play to outlast Saint Thomas Aquinas on Saturday (Jan. 10), downing the Spartans by a score of 68-62. Senior forward Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) led the way with a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) and was perfect from the charity stripe, knocking down all 10 of his free throws. As a team, the Pioneers had one of their best performances in recent memory from the foul line, making 84% (26-31) of their freebies. Senior guard Isiah Stokley (Queens, N.Y.) and junior swingman Akosa Maduegbunam (Hyde Park, Mass.) each scored nine points, while junior point guard Dillon Burns (Staten Island, N.Y.) had eight of his own to go along with four assists and four rebounds. The Pioneers dominated their opponents in the blocks, outrebounding Saint Thomas Aquinas 46-29 for the contest, including a 6-2 edge in the overtime frame.

Despite having a quiet game against the Spartans, senior forward Charles McCann (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) is among the conference's top-two perimeter shooters, hitting 57% of his field goals. In addition to McCann's success, Burns ranks seventh in the ECC with an average of 3.7 assists per game. LIU Post is the best rebounding team in the conference, averaging almost 44 boards per contest while holding an ECC-best plus-7.6 rebounding margin.

Molloy is coming off of a 98-81 thrashing of UDC at home last Wednesday (Jan. 7), collecting their highest point total of the season in the victory. The Lions (8-5, 3-2 ECC) were led by senior guard Matt McLeod (Greenlawn, N.Y.) who poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Three other players scored double-digit point totals, including a 21-point, six-rebound performance from junior point guard Brandon Williams (Baldwin, N.Y.). Sophomore guard Charlie Marquardt (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) also scored 20 points, despite shooting 4-of-10 from long range and 5-for-12 from the field in the contest. Much like the Pioneers, the Lions were successful at cleaning up the glass, outrebounding the Firebirds by a 42-26 margin.

Williams is leading the Lions with a 16.1 points per game average and an average of four assists per contest. Sophomore guard Jaylen Morris (Amherst, N.Y.) is averaging 15. 8 points per game and leads his team in field goal percentage (49.7%). The Lions, meanwhile, are the second-worst team in the ECC with a rebounding average of just 31.8 boards per contest. However, Molloy is by far and away the best shooting team from the foul line, converting an impressive 80.5% of their attempts. The Lions have four players ranked inside the top-10 in free throw percentage, led by Marquardt's conference-best 91.2% mark from the line.