BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (February 1, 2011) ­– Thursday night's ECC doubleheader matchup should bring some clear implications to the face of the standings in the conference for both the men and the women. The women teams are looking to take control of a third place slot in the conference, while first place will be tested for the men's teams on both sides.

 

The C.W. Post women's basketball team came away with a vital win on the season Saturday evening at Queens College. Behind Felicia Joyner's (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) 25 points, the Pioneers moved to 9-9 overall and a 7-6 conference mark with the 76-67 victory over the Knights. Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) and Anthia Smith (Elmira, N.Y.) each contributed 13 points to the victory with Alyssa Lombardi (New Fairfield, Conn.) controlling the glass on 11 rebounds. 

 

The Pioneers, led by Lombardi, virtually dominated the glass with a 51-30 advantage in rebounds. C.W. Post also was efficient from the field, as the Pioneers shot 45.5 percent from the field. The Knights also may have hurt their own cause as the squad only connected on 12 of 21 free throw attempts. 

 

Aiken continues to be one of the pure scorers in the conference, staying consistently in the top five of scoring at a 15.8 average per game. Joyner also joins Aiken in the double-figure points' category, putting up 11.3 points a game. After the Pioneers were able to dominate the Knights on the boards, the team added to its already stellar resume of being a strong rebounding team. Led by Lombardi's 8.7 rebounds per game, the team has held a positive 4.1 rebounding margin against opponents. 

 

Bridgeport senior center Kelly Keil is coming off her third ECC Player of the Week honors. For the season, the six foot, four inch Keil is fifth in the league in scoring (14.9), fifth in rebounds (7.6), and second in blocks (2.76), which also put her 14 in the nation in rejections. This is all behind shooting 42.1 percent from the field.  

 

Keil is joined in the league's top ten scoring by teammate Elinor Anvy, who is eighth in the conference at 12.2 points a game. Anvy has been a threat from long-range, as she has converted on 40.2 percent of her three-point attempts, good for first in the league. Elsebeth Birman has also shown strong point guard play as a sophomore, averaging a conference second-best 4.68 assists a game. 

 

Last time out for the Purple Knights was a tough loss to Queens, 51-45, on Monday evening. This loss dropped Bridgeport into a three-way tied for third place, joined by the Knights of Queens and the Pioneers, all at 7-6 conference record. 

 

This will be the second of three meetings for these two teams on the year, with the first meeting going to Bridgeport back on January 10, 45-51. Keil and Anvy combined for 28 of the team's 51 points, with Keil also tallying 11 rebounds. Aiken contributed 15 to the Pioneer effort; however, the team as a whole was only able to shoot 28.3 percent for the game. Bridgeport's 15 point lead during the second half was cut to five late with the Pioneers fighting back. The comeback came too late though, with the Purple Knights holding on in the end. 

 

After going 10-0 in the month of January and taking over sole-possession of first place in the ECC, the Pioneers will be looking to knock the Purple Knights down the standings during the second game of the double-header in the men's game.

 

The Pioneer men have now improved to 14-6 and 11-2 in conference after going 10-0 during January, with the last win coming this past Saturday at Queens, 79-70. Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) once again was the point's leader for the Pioneers with a game-high 28 points. Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) joined Bonneau in double-figures with 11 points for the game. 

 

C.W. Post held a 32-26 rebounding advantage over the Knights, while converting 20 points off of 18 Knights turnovers during the game. The Pioneers led by as many as 12 during the final minutes of the second half to secure the victory. 

 

For his efforts during the past week, Bonneau earned the ECC Player of the Week for the third time this season. The senior guard continues to lead the conference in points per game (19.1), three point field goal percentage (45.8 percent), and three pointers made per game (2.84). He also leads the conference as well as being sixth in the nation with his 92.3 percent free throw shooting. 

 

Kohler and senior forward Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) have also contributed greatly to the number one scoring offense and to cleaning up the glass against opponents as the two have combined for 26.7 points a game and 12.2 rebounds a game down-low for the Pioneers. Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) is the fourth Pioneer to average double-figures, as he has pushed his total up to 10.7 a game. 

 

Senior guard Gilbert Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) has continued to be one of the best floor generals in the conference with his 5.85 assists per game. The senior has also turned the ball over at a low rate, pushing his assist-turnover ratio to 3.16 a game. 

 

Bridgeport is coming off a recent loss to Queens on Monday evening, 71-58, forcing a two-way tie for second between the Purple Knights and Knights at 10-3. 

 

Senior guard Jermaine Washington has been the leader for the Purple Knights, earning Player of the Week once during the season. Washington is fifth in the conference with 14.5 points a game, as well as being in the top ten in both assists and steals, with 3.06 and 1.65 per game respectively. Dave Boykin and Josh Martin have averaged 24.9 points together to help the scoring effort for Bridgeport. 

 

Senior forward Tim Cokley is also having a strong season, grabbing 7.2 rebounds a game to place him second in the conference. He also is having an efficient shooting year, putting down 51.2 percent of his attempts. 

 

Last time out for these two teams was a strong game for C.W. Post despite losing Bonneau for more than half the game due to injury, as the Pioneers pulled out the 86-78 victory. With Bonneau sidelined, Hall took over scoring duties with his game-high 25 points. Montalvo also had a strong game with 16 points and six assists, with Billy Butler (Elmont, N.Y.) chipping in 13 off the bench. The Pioneers went up as many as 13 during the first half before it was cut to one point at the half. Montalvo and Butler secured the win at the end with free throws. 

 

Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the double-header was moved to Thursday night due to the anticipation of the inclement weather. The women are set to tip off at 5 p.m. on the campus of Bridgeport, with the men to follow at 7 p.m.