Men's Basketball Rolls Past St. Thomas Aquinas, 77-59
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (January 30, 2010) – Five players in double figures helped the men's basketball team roll to a double-digit victory over St. Thomas Aquinas, 77-59, at Aquinas Hall on Saturday afternoon in East Coast Conference men's basketball action.
The Pioneers improve to 15-4 overall and 11-2 in conference play, and have won 12 straight games.
St. Thomas Aquinas took a 6-1 lead as Ra'Shad James and Daniel Skinner each drained three pointers to start the game, but the Pioneers answered back with a 14-2 run that turned the deficit into a 15-8 lead. STAC clawed back and pulled to 15-12 on back to back layups from Just Brown and Vincent Johnson, but senior forward
Nemanja Jokic (Sombor, Serbia) completed a three-point play to push the lead to 18-12.
The hosts answered back again and at 8:13, pulled to within one point, 18-17, but a bucket by
Gil Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) and a trey from Jokic pushed the Pioneer lead back to six points, 23-17, with 6:31 remaining. C.W. Post continued to lead by between five and seven points for the remainder of the first half, and pushed to an eight point lead, 34-26, heading into halftime after a traditional three-point play from
Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.).
Coming out of the half, STAC fought back again and made it a four-point game, 36-32, at the 18:04 mark. The Pioneers were not deterred, however, and quickly pushed back to a five, then eight point lead. The offense began to click as the Pioneers pushed their lead into double digits, taking a 47-36 advantage with 15:26 remaining to play.
The Spartans narrowed the lead back to single digits, pulling to within seven points, 51-44, at 11:11, but the Pioneers went on a 14-0 run and pushed the lead to 65-44, leading by 21 points with 6:51 remaining. C.W. Post coasted the rest of the way to the double-digit victory.
Jokic and
Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) each scored a game-high 18 points, followed by Butler with 13 points. Senior guard
Roberto Macklin (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and junior forward
Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) each added 12 points, and Montalvo dished out a career-high 11 assists.
The Pioneers held a 32-27 edge on the glass and their assist/turnover ratio (18/13) bettered the Spartans' 14/20 mark. C.W. Post shot 54% (31-57) for the game, compared to 42% (21-49) for STAC. The visitors more than doubled up the Spartans in the paint, outscoring them 48-20. CWP also took advantage of Spartan turnovers, scoring 22 points off miscues.
STAC was led by Johnson's 16 points, James with 12 points, and Jamie Blanchard with 10 points.
C.W. Post will return to the court on Wednesday, February 3, as it hosts Queens College at the Pratt Recreation Center, at 7 p.m.