Men's Basketball Overwhelms St. Thomas Aquinas, 71-49
Box Score
SPARKILL, N.Y. (January 5, 2010) – The C.W. Post men's basketball team jumped out to an early lead over the host Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas, and never looked back as the Pioneers coasted to a 71-49 victory in East Coast Conference men's basketball action on Wednesday evening.
The Pioneers even their record a 6-6, 3-2 ECC, while STAC slides to 2-8, 2-3 in conference play.
Junior guard Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) led the way with 13 points on 7-of-16 shooting, and sophomore guard Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) was right behind with 13 point while senior forward Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) rounded out the trio in double figures with 11 points on the evening. Bonneau also grabbed eight boards to pace the rebounding effort, which saw the Pioneers control the glass by a 38-31 margin.
The Pioneers shot a solid 45.6 percent from the floor (26-57) and 42.1 percent from long range (8-19). The visitors were nearly perfect from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 12 free throws.
C.W. Post jumped out to a quick lead by virtue of a Kohler layup to start the contest. Sophomore guard Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) nailed a three pointer at 18:24, and senior guard Gil Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) stole the ball and finished the layup at 17:55 to give C.W. Post a 7-0 lead.
The Spartans tried to keep the game close, and at 10:35 they pulled to within two on a trey from Jason Halloway, but C.W. Post put together a run starting with a three-point play from Hall, an emphatic steal and dunk from Bonneau, and a trey from Kohler and quickly pushed their lead to ten point with 8:33 remaining in the half.
Leading by 14 after halftime, the Pioneers quickly pushed the lead into the 20-point range with 15 minutes and change remaining in the contest. The Spartans could not match up with the offensive effort by the visitors as C.W. Post maintained a mid-twenties lead for the remainder of the contest.
STAC was led by Nick Lopez and Justin Brown with nine points apiece, and the Spartans shot 19-53 from the field for a 35.8 percentage, but hit only 3 of 15 from long range and made only 8 of 16 from the line.
C.W. Post forced 15 Spartan turnovers, and outscored the hosts 28-18 in the paint. The Pioneers were also superior on second chance points with 15 and points off turnovers with 12.
The Pioneers will next host first-place Queens College in an ECC matchup on Saturday, Jan. 8, starting at 3:30 p.m.