Men's Basketball Falls to Queens on Senior Day, 84-72
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2017) - The LIU Post men's basketball team had its four-game winning streak halted Saturday in an 84-72 loss to East Coast Conference rival Queens College at the Pratt Recreation Center.
The defeat sends the Pioneers to 9-17 overall and 8-8 in league play. Meanwhile, the Knights improved to 13-11 and 10-7 against ECC opposition.
The green and gold got out to a strong start in the contest, reeling off a 12-4 run over the game's first 5:08. Senior guard
Jared Hall (South Orange, N.J.) poured in four points in the spurt. Fellow senior guard
Jemal Mosley (Nanuet, N.Y.) and junior guard
Kyle McLeggan (Jersey City, N.J.) each added a three-pointer.
However, Queens outscored its opposition by an overwhelming 30-8 count in the next 10 minutes to open up a 14-point lead at the 4:26 mark. The Knights had seven different scorers in the streak, led by a seven-point showing from freshman forward Issac Grant (Jamaica, N.Y.).
Queens, which shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from deep in the first half, eventually took a comfortable 12-point advantage (43-31) into the break.
Nearly five minutes into the latter half, LIU Post was faced with its largest deficit (57-41) of the game, until a 13-2 burst by the hosts closed the gap to 59-54 with 11:59 remaining. Mosley ignited the run with a trey. Hall followed with back-to-back lay-ups. Freshman forward
Hall Elisias (Valley Stream, N.Y.) capped it off with a pair of free throws.
Shortly thereafter, a put-back lay-up by senior forward
Greg Dotson (Abington, Pa.), who was honored in a pre-game ceremony with Hall and Mosley, made it a three-point game (65-62) with 6:18 to go.
That was as close as the Pioneers came to mounting a comeback though, as the Knights responded with a quick 9-0 run in a stint of 2:58 to re-gain their double-digit lead.
Hall finished with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists in the effort. Dotson had 14 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two assists. McLeggan amassed 11 points and four rebounds. Elisias provided a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) in 17 minutes off the bench. Mosley chipped in seven points in his final regular-season home game at LIU Post.
Head Coach
Erik Smiles and the Pioneers return to action Wednesday (Feb. 22), when they battle ECC rival University of Bridgeport at 7 p.m. in Bridgeport, Conn.