Men's Basketball Falters Against Bridgeport, 79-61
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 11, 2017) - On Wednesday, the LIU Post men's basketball team dropped a 79-61 decision to East Coast Conference rival University of Bridgeport at the Pratt Recreation Center.
Senior forward
Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.) had 19 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Junior guard
Kyle McLeggan (Jersey City, N.J.) collected 16 points and grabbed three rebounds. Senior guard
Jared Hall (South Orange, N.J.) recorded eight points, six rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard
Jared Rivers (Westbury, N.Y.) added eight points, as well.
Down 13-4 from the onset of the game, the Pioneers (5-11, 2-5 ECC) rallied with an 8-0 streak in a stint of 1:16 to cut the deficit to 13-12 with 14:07 remaining. McLeggan accounted for the first six points of the run. Dotson capped it off with a dunk, off an alley-oop pass from Hall.
However, the Purple Knights (8-8, 4-3 ECC) came right back with a 20-6 response over an eight-minute span to expand their lead to double digits (33-18) at the 5:28 mark.
The green and gold eventually trailed 37-28 at the break, after ending the half on an 8-2 burst. McLeggan buried a transition three and a pair of free throws, while freshman guard
Tracy Cleckley (Queens, N.Y.) made 1-of-2 attempts from the stripe.
In the second half, McLeggan got things started for LIU Post with a trey to close the gap to 37-31, but Bridgeport answered with an 11-2 run to put the game away for good. Junior guard/forward Sam Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and junior guard Carlos DeJesus (Bronx, N.Y.) combined to knock down three trifectas in the stretch.
Head Coach
Erik Smiles and the Pioneers return to action Saturday (Jan. 14), when they square off with Queens College in an ECC showdown at Fitzgerald Gymnasium in Flushing. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.