Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 6, 2010) – The C.W. Post men's basketball team stormed back from a 20-point second half deficit, taking the lead with 45 seconds remaining and holding on to defeat Molloy College, 75-73, in a wild Wednesday evening clash at the Pratt Recreation Center.

C.W. Post improves to 7-4 overall and 3-2 in the ECC, and has won four straight. The win also continues a 34-game home winning streak for the Pioneers, dating back to 2007-08.  Molloy slips to 4-9 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

The two teams started out shooting the lights out, as Molloy did not miss a shot, scoring in its first seven possessions. The Pioneers matched the Lions point for point however, and at 14:34, the game was tied 15-15. The Pioneers managed to stay tight with the hot-shooting Lions, but Molloy, on the strength of 65% shooting (21-32) began to pull ahead, and at after Ed Freeman's three-pointer at 10:27, the Pioneers found themselves trailing by eight points. 

C.W. Post battled back, and Roberto Macklin (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) hit a jumper at 8:00 to pull the hosts within five points, but for the remainder of the half, the Pioneers fell victim to a 15-2 Molloy run that saw the visitors hold a halftime lead of 49-31 over the C.W. Post cagers.

The second half looked to be much of the same story, as Molloy's lead bulged to 20 points, and averaged between 14-18 until midway through the second half. But C.W. Post began to chip away, and the defecit shrunk to 11 points, then nine on a lay-up by Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.), then seven behind a jumper from the freshman at 6:10.

Senior forward Nemanja Jokic (Sombor, Serbia) hit two free throws at 4:46 to pull C.W. Post to within five points, and the Pioneers made a key defensive stop as Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.) picked up a steal and fed the ball to Jokic for a fast-break layup to pull within three points. 

Molloy's Freeman hit a jumper with 4:03 to push back to a five-point lead, but Kohler grabbed a tough defensive rebound off a missed Molloy three-pointer, and returned the favor to Butler, who scored a fast-break bucket of his own to pull back to within three point. Kohler's layup at 2:26 pulled C.W. Post to just one point shy of Molloy, and the freshman's free throw with 47 seconds remaining tied the contest at 69-69.

Kohler missed his second shot from the line, but junior forward Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) grabbed the rebound and swished a jumper with 45 seconds remaining to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game. Gil Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) hit both free throws with 19 seconds remaining to make it a two-posession game and give C.W. Post a four point lead, 73-69. Harley Fuller's jumper was good for Molloy, but Hall answered right back with a jumper to give the Pioneers a 75-71 advantage, and Brian Hutchinson's bucket with six second remaining was not enough as Molloy ran out of time and C.W. Post came away with the hard-fought comeback victory.

Jokic paced the Pioneers with 19 points and nine boards, and Hall was close behind with 17 points. Kohler and Macklin each scored 13 points apiece. The Pioneers shots 52% for the game including 64% (18-28) in the second half, and made 10-14 from the line. They outscored Molloy 48-36 in the paint, and held a 13-0 edge in second chance points and a 12-4 edge in fast break baskets. 

Molloy was led by Hutchinson's 19 point effort, followed by Freeman with 18 points, Girard Fitts with 13, and Fuller with 11. Molloy shot 57% (32-56) for the game, and 6-14 (42%) from deep, but was hurt by a 3-10 showing from the charity stripe.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday as the host St. Thomas Aquinas in an ECC matchup at 3:30 p.m.