The Pioneer Trail: Friday, Jan. 23, 2015
Women's Basketball at Daemen - 6 p.m.The LIU Post women's basketball team has confidence and momentum after coming away victorious in Tuesday's installment of the "Battle of the Boulevard." Now the Pioneers will look to continue their recent roll as they travel to Amherst, N.Y. for a date with Daemen at 6 p.m.
LIU Post (10-6, 6-2 ECC) defeated NYIT in overtime on Tuesday (Jan. 20) by a final score of 70-63. The loss was the first conference defeat for the Bears, who had entered the contest with an unblemished 7-0 mark in ECC play. Senior guard
Ashley Castle (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the green and gold with 24 points off the bench, while junior center
Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) added another double-double (14 points, 16 rebounds) to her account this season. Senior guard
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) scored 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds and junior forward
Kalinka DeRoche (New Haven, Conn.) had 10 boards for the Pioneers in the win.
The green and gold dominated the glass with a plus-14 rebound margin (60-46) and were effective in halting NYIT's offensive game. The visitors made just 29% (21-72) of their shots from the field, and junior forward Dina Ragab (Cairo, Egypt) was held to a 3-for-19 shooting performance and just eight total points. Meanwhile, the Pioneers were able to close out the contest from the free-throw line. After making just seven of their 18 foul shots in regulation, the green and gold went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe in the extra frame to seal the victory.
Daemen (8-6, 5-3 ECC) earned the first bit of bragging rights in the conference's newest rivalry by downing Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday (Jan. 20) by a 70-69 score. The Wildcats trailed for much of the contest, being down by as much as 13 points to the Redhawks in the second half. However, Daemen completed a gritty comeback, utilizing a 19-5 run in the final seven minutes of regulation to pull away with the win. Junior guard Raeann Stilwell (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) hit the last bucket of the contest, a three-point shot with just under two minutes to play, to bring the score to its final margin.
Stilwell had 13 points for the Wildcats while senior forward Shy Britton (Rochester, N.Y.) was the team's leading scorer with 18. Britton also pulled down 11 rebounds in the win, and all five starters for Daemen had double-digit point total on the evening. Sophomore forward Natalie Galus (Hamburg, N.Y.) hit four three-pointers for the Wildcats and had a team-high four steals.
Daemen is ineligible for ECC postseason play, as they are in their last year of reclassification into the NCAA. This will be the third time that the Wildcats and Pioneers will face off, with LIU Post winning both matchups last season.
Men's Basketball at Daemen - 8 p.m.One win can change the tide of an entire season, and one moment can lift a team from the bottom of the conference standings to the thick of the playoff hunt. The LIU Post men's basketball team will look to ride their own wave of confidence as they face one of their toughest tests of the season at Lumsden Gymnasium Friday night.
The Pioneers (8-8, 3-5 ECC) claimed an 85-78 overtime victory over NYIT on Tuesday (Jan. 20) in front of a raucous home crowd at the Pratt Recreation Center. Senior forward
Tyuan Williams (Newark, N.J.) had 24 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the victory. Williams also hit the game-tying jumper with under 30 seconds to play for the green and gold, while senior guard
P.J. Torres (New Rochelle, N.Y.) scored 18 off the bench. Junior guard
Akosa Maduegbunam (Hyde Park, Mass.) hit all four shots from the field, including three field goals from beyond the three-point arc. He had 11 points and his three-pointer in overtime gave the Pioneers the lead for good.
LIU Post was an offensive juggernaut, hitting 53% (34-64) of their shots from the perimeter. The Pioneers also took care of the basketball, committing just seven turnovers in the win while forcing NYIT into 12 giveaways. The green and gold won despite being minus-10 in the rebounding category, as NYIT pulled down 47 rebounds to the Pioneers' 37 boards.
Despite being ineligible for ECC postseason play, the Wildcats (12-4, 7-1 ECC) has started off strong for the second straight year in conference. The defending regular-season champions from a year ago, Daemen has won 24 of their 28 ECC matchups to date. That includes an 83-63 demolition of Western New York rival Roberts Wesleyan on Tuesday (Jan. 20) in Amherst, N.Y.
Senior forward Gerald Beverly (Rochester, N.Y.) had one of his quieter games so far this season, scoring just 16 points and adding 10 rebounds. Beverly's 40th career double-double came mostly from his performance at the free-throw line, as the ECC Preseason Co-Player of the Year hit 80% (8-10) of his foul shots. Junior guard Supreme Hannah (Rochester, N.Y.) poured in 15 points while senior forward Jordan Greene (Fort Edward, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 from three-point range, pouring in 13 points and adding nine rebounds.
The Wildcats held a plus-14 (49-35) rebounding margin over Roberts Wesleyan and the Redhawks made just 33% of their field goals (24-72) in the contest. Daemen, meanwhile, made exactly 50% (28-56) of their perimeter shots and knocked down 21 free throws in 29 attempts (72%).
Daemen split their prior two meetings with LIU Post last season. In those contests, Beverly averaged 22.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game for the Wildcats.